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Proceedings of Annual Spain Business Research Conference 26 - 27 May 2016, Novotel Barcelona City Hotel, Barcelona, Spain, ISBN: 978-1-925488-05-0 Assessing Financial Inclusiveness in the Philippines - A Regional Index Tatum Blaise Tan1 The study gauges the state of financial inclusion in the country by constructing a multi-dimensional index of financial inclusion (IFI) on a regional basis for the period 2011-2014. The modifications employed in deriving the index improveits general and analytical comparability and allowfor better capture of the country’s financial landscape. Using two different sets of IFI, the study consistently finds that over the past four years the country’s financial inclusiveness has improved—marked by a higher index and fewer regions in the low IFI category. The results subsequently highlight the persistently low IFI regions that are lagging behind in financial development and utilization of financial services, particularly Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Moreover, several regions are “under-banked,” as indicated by the low values recorded in the usage dimension vis-à-vis the other dimensions of financial inclusiveness (i.e., bank penetration andavailability of financial services)primarily because of weak credit availment, generally dragging the index down. In addition, the difference in the simple and per capita weighted averages reveals more financial exclusion on a geographic perspective and hints of a bias to highly urbanized regions. Lastly, the paper finds positive correlation between regional financial inclusiveness in the Philippines and regional GDP, income, and urbanization. JEL Codes: G21, G200, O16 Keywords: Financial inclusion, Index of Financial Inclusion, Financial and Economic Development, Philippines 1 Ms. Tan is currently with the Department of Economic Statistics of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The author is grateful to Director Rosabel Guerrero, Mr. Fernando Silvoza, Ms. Teresita Deveza, Ms. Fe Canillas, Mr. Jeremy De Jesus, Ms. Jean Christine Armas, and her colleagues at the BSP for their suggestions and support. The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the BSP. Any errors and omissions are the responsibility of the author.Email: [email protected]; contact number: (+632) 708-7224