Digital Financial Inclusion to Accelerate the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The content, direction, and main components of digital financial inclusion are determined to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the conditions of the post-war recovery of Ukraine. Based on the use of the World Bank database, which contains the results of representative surveys at the level of household finances, a quantitative assessment of the level of digital financial inclusion in the main directions of basic financial services of adults in Ukraine compared to other world countries was carried out. According to the results of the research, the authors justify the conclusion that the digital financial infrastructure and the level of digital financial services in Ukraine remain relatively low compared to European countries and middle-income economies. It has been identified the reasons for the "financial exclusion" of the population of Ukraine from the system of formal financial services. It was concluded that the transition to the "cashless economy" model in Ukraine is slowing down due to barriers. The main barriers limiting the access of the population of Ukraine to formal financial services are underdevelopment of the financial infrastructure, forced exclusion of a part of the population from financial services, not enough money of a large number of consumers, lack of trust in financial institutions, high level of the shadow economy in Ukraine and others. The results of the study contain recommendations to overcome existing barriers to expand the population's digital access to basic financial services in Ukraine. The issue of recognizing free access to the Internet as a fundamental right of every person – a digital right – has been updated.