Chile's Ministry of Finance outlines its first National Financial Inclusion Strategy and links it to measures to curb household over-indebtedness

Chile's Ministry of Finance, through Minister Mario Marcel, presented the main lines of the first National Financial Inclusion Strategy and framed it as a whole-of-system effort to expand safe access to regulated financial services while managing household debt risks. In discussing household balance sheets, the ministry pointed to Central Bank data for the fourth quarter of 2024 showing household savings at 5.6% of GDP and household debt at 47.2% of GDP, returning to pre-pandemic levels. It also cited a decline in median household debt from CLP 2.45 million in January 2020 to CLP 1.78 million in January 2025, a 27% nominal reduction, alongside a drop in the financial burden from 20.5% to 12.2% over the same period. The update referenced enacted and pending initiatives aimed at reducing over-indebtedness, including the Fintech Law, a consolidated debt registry, the “Conoce Tu Deuda” portal, a bill to subsidise mortgage interest rates for new homes, and a proposed new regulation on consumer information for bank and non-bank credit cards; it also reviewed the law published in May 2024 to encourage refinancing for highly indebted individuals, noting 7,300 people accessed the guarantee. The strategy framework presented covers access, use, quality and financial wellbeing, and defines inclusion as safe, expedited entry into the formal financial system with regulated financial and pension products used frequently, correctly and responsibly. Implementation was positioned as requiring participation from across the financial system, with gaps to be addressed despite Chile’s comparatively high inclusion levels on aggregate indicators.