The bill to combat financial exclusion will help increase the number of bank and postal accounts in Tunisia, financial analyst Bassem Ennaifer told TAP Wednesday. The bill, which is currently being reviewed by the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, is part of the economic reform programme announced by the government to boost the national economy and investment climate. The aim of the draft law is to develop the legal and institutional framework organising the sector, with a view to increasing the access of Tunisian to the banking system, particularly the poor, the low-income and people with disabilities. It also seeks to facilitate access to banking and financial services for small and micro enterprises. In its current form, the law has four main components: access to financial services and products; strengthening financial sector supervision; consumer protection in financial services and financial education; and rationalising the use of cash as a means of payment. Ennaifer said the bill will giv e a large segment of the population the opportunity to join the financial system at lower cost and will enable microfinance institutions to become more widespread, he added. "Thanks to this bill, individuals will no longer be required to show a work certificate to open a bank or post office account. If a bank or post office refuses, the state, through its various structures, will offer other alternatives to people who want to open an account. Support to microfinance institutions This draft law will enable micro-finance institutions to sell insurance policies under agreements signed with insurance companies and to offer banking and postal savings services, with the aim of bringing these services closer to the public. It will also ensure better protection for microfinance institutions by organising the entry and exit of new investors in the capital, particularly as regards the main investor, who will be subject to authorisation, he pointed out. In this respect, he said the number of Tunisians who received microcredits by 2023 will be 758,000. This project will also allow these institutions to access the Central Bank of Tunisia's database in order to better manage the risks involved in granting loans. According to the analyst, the new project will also improve access to insurance services, pointing out that the insurance penetration rate in Tunisia is currently less than 3%, despite the huge potential in this area. To make insurance services more widely available in Tunisia, it had been decided to give customers access to mobile insurance services via e-payment, besides authorizing microfinance institutions to market insurance policies, he pointed out. He added that the 'new bill will also facilitate the renewal of banknotes that are no longer in circulation by paying them directly into the holder's current account (bank or post office), whereas previously this could only be done at the Central Bank's counters. This measure will facilitate the implementation of the cash withdrawal strategy and help to reduce the volume of cash circulating outside the banking system". Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse