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Financial inclusion.
The World Bank estimates that there are 1.5 billion people living in extreme poverty today,
and almost half the population of the world - some 3 billion people - survive on less than two dollars a day.
These striking levels of poverty demand all the agents, both public and private, to become involved.
At BBVA we channel our responsibility in the way we know best: by providing financial services.
But in the fight against poverty we come face to face with a major obstacle:
the people with the greatest needs are outside the financial system.
They are far removed from the world of loans, insurance, saving programs and credit lines.
They are far from us, and we from them. Their isolation prevents us from making real improvements to their living conditions.
This situation is in some cases related to the limited development of the financial sector,
which is incapable of reaching part of society for geographical reasons.
On other occasions, although there are financial entities within a particular territory,
there are many people who simply cannot access the services. They are completely on the outside.
Financial inclusion is one of the priority areas in our policy of corporate responsibility.
We can only fight poverty if people with the greatest need are able to access a financial system that supports entrepreneurs,
boosts local economies and makes inclusive economic growth possible.
No one should be marginalized, whether as a result of physical, social or geographical barriers.
The best example of BBVA's strategy of financial inclusion is the creation in 2007 of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation.
This is a non-profit institution with a budget of 200 million euros
and a mission to boost the sustainable economic and social development of the most disadvantaged people
by giving them access to productive microfinance.
Microfinance is the most useful instrument to enable the most underprivileged to access the financial system.
They can finance assets that generate income, develop capacity for saving, stabilize consumption and protect against risks.
They are a small seed of wealth in the arid soil of poverty.
Today, the BBVA Microfinance Foundation focuses its work basically in Latin America.
It has a loan book of 425 million dollars.
After barely two years of operations it already has more than 600,000 customers, mostly women,
with small loans averaging 900 dollars, and an accumulated impact of around 2 million people.
These are very promising figures, but eradicating poverty is still a distant utopia.
Some 80% of the world's population is outside the traditional financial system,
and microfinance is reaching only 8% of the people who have been isolated.
We have pledged a commitment to the remaining 72%.
We propose expanding the microfinance sector to tear down the obstacles and reach all the people who need resources.
We want to contribute to the improvement of their living conditions and financial inclusion is the path we have set for ourselves.
If it is important for people, it is important for BBVA.