Sadly, the global economic crisis, which is now in its fifth year, has worsened the plight of those who face financial exclusion, preventing even more of the world’s poor from gaining a foothold on an important ladder out of poverty. In my Remarks this morning, I will first share my perspective on why financial inclusion matters to our economic development in the Caribbean.
Second, I will briefly describe the efforts of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago to promote financial inclusion, focusing on the Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman, which is the only such Ombudsman Office in the Caribbean, and on the National Financial Literacy Program, which is another pioneering initiative in the Caribbean that has received strong support from the Commonwealth Secretariat.