TITLE: Paraguay's Ministry of Economy and Finance Reactivates Financial Inclusion Committee and Approves 2026–2031 Strategy
BODY:
On July 17, 2026, Paraguay's Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) reactivated the National Committee for Financial Inclusion (CNIF) and approved the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (ENIF) 2026–2031 during the committee's first ordinary session of the year. The MEF, which chairs the CNIF under Decree No. 1971/2014, led the meeting with participation from Carlos Carvallo, president of the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP), and Carlos Romero Roa, president of the National Institute of Cooperativism (INCOOP). Oscar Lovera, MEF minister, presided over the session.
The ENIF 2026–2031 represents the first comprehensive update to Paraguay's financial inclusion policy in over a decade. Building on achievements from the previous ENIF 2014–2018, the new strategy broadens its scope beyond access to emphasise effective use, service quality, and improved opportunities for individuals and businesses. The strategy incorporates financial education and consumer protection components alongside actions designed to reduce access barriers, strengthen formal savings and financing, expand digital payments, and promote complementary physical and digital infrastructure channels.
The CNIF approved initial guidelines for establishing working groups to coordinate implementation, articulate public and private sector institutions, and establish monitoring mechanisms to convert the strategy into concrete commitments and verifiable results. The committee designated Vivian Ocampos, general director of Financial Inclusion at the Vice-Ministry of Economy and Planning (VEP), as executive secretary of the CNIF. Ocampos will facilitate coordination and dialogue between public and private sector institutions to ensure participatory and coordinated strategy implementation.