Vanuatu's Prime Minister has called on banks to create a more friendly environment so that people are not afraid to deal with them and will use them more often.
Vanuatu's Charlot Salwai. Photo: RNZ/Koroi Hawkins
Charlot Salwai directed his comments to the Association of Commercial Banks while launching new products for the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu.
He said many tough banking conditions turn the public off from from keeping their money safe in the banks.
Mr Salwai said people are then tempted to invest their savings in scams.
The Daily Post newspaper reports the Prime Minister also calling on banks to entice farmers from the rural areas to deposit their money for safe keeping.
A businessman, who said he did not trust banks, recently lost hundreds of thousands of dollars when his house was burned to the ground.