Latin America and the Caribbean has made a big leap towards using digital technologies to expand financial inclusion, and there are reasons to be hopeful: Several initiatives in the region have expanded the supply of innovative digital financial products which, in theory, should untap inclusive growth by enabling millions of micro and small firms and households to integrate … [Read more...] about A New Miracle? The Promises of Digitalization and Financial Inclusion in Latin America
How High Interest Rates Smother Innovation and Development
After the 2008 financial crisis, the tech sector in the United States boomed as efficient capital markets and low interest rates allowed new firms to exploit innovation. Yet in much of Latin America, the brilliant young innovator with a billion-dollar idea might find it hard or even impossible to raise the capital needed to turn similarly promising inspiration into a success. … [Read more...] about How High Interest Rates Smother Innovation and Development
Leveraging Foreign Remittances for Financial Inclusion
Personal financial transfers made by foreign migrants - known as remittances - are common for countries with high levels of economic migration. Yet, in many cases the transfers occur outside the banking system. This keeps remittance recipients from accessing safe financial services, such as savings, credit, or insurance, that improve their economic condition. Mexico is a … [Read more...] about Leveraging Foreign Remittances for Financial Inclusion
Fiscal Rules for Commodity-Dependent Economies
In recent decades, numerous governments in Latin America and the Caribbean have adopted fiscal rules, which try to enforce fiscal discipline on governments and stop them from pro-cyclical spending, which involves spending too much when times are good and taking the ax to spending when times are bad. Pro-cyclical policies have been a historical trend in the region. They have not … [Read more...] about Fiscal Rules for Commodity-Dependent Economies
Maximizing the Potential of Urban Migration in Latin America and the Caribbean
Over the last six decades, Latin America and the Caribbean has experienced a wave of migration to urban areas that has boosted the percentage of people living in cities from around 50% of the population in 1960 to more than 80% today. Millions of those people have been forcibly displaced, fleeing crime, political conflict, and gang violence. Many others have been uprooted by … [Read more...] about Maximizing the Potential of Urban Migration in Latin America and the Caribbean