Earlier today, alongside the Most Revd. and Rt Hon. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and HM Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, I delivered the keynote address at the Financial Inclusion conference in central London.

Access to banking and other financial services is vital in today’s modern society, and financial inclusion not only helps the individual and their family, but it can also be a powerful driver of economic growth.

We also learnt more about the LifeSavers project, which was established by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Credit Union Taskforce. This will seek to equip primary school children with good financial habits by educating them about the benefits of saving at an early age, and will also introduce children to credit unions. This is a hugely valuable programme which aims to help tackle the root cause of money problems, and get future generations developing good savings habits as early as possible.

Read my full remarks here.