Q With seven new banks and many established banks expanding, will there be overcrowding in a country with only two million bank accounts?
A In the late-1990s, we had 21 or 22 banks but some collapsed and we were down to about 15. Now we are back to 22. There has been a big outcry about outreach. Financial services are generally restricted to the bigger urban areas but now we have quite a number of small towns coming up and we’re beginning to see banks going there. In the past year, we have seen bank branches rise from 180 to about 300. More competition will improve inefficiencies and bring down high bank charges and interest rates.
