The national financial education strategy is extremely important for Moldova and will help it to have a more stable economy – a British expert.
This was stated by Sean Mundy, a British expert who has developed the first financial education strategy in Europe, within the regular podcast "Give Sense to Money". He is advising Moldova in the process of developing the National Financial Education Strategy, which is led by the National Bank of Moldova with the support of the USAID Moldova Institutional and Structural Reforms Activity (MISRA) Program. In October 2023, under the same project, the NBM launched a major financial education campaign in Moldova. He noted that the UK is the first country in the world to implement a financial education strategy, and now Moldova is also involved in its development, which is very important. "I think it is extremely important that people understand and believe that they can manage their own money. Also, it's something I'm very passionate about. So I was delighted to be able to come and work here as I have worked in other countries. I can take the opportunity to share some of the knowledge I have accumulated over the past years and I hope to help Moldova develop a national financial education strategy that will be really useful and productive. I think the principles are the same in all countries - this is what I have learned. The specific approach you take has to be country specific. So there is no default template. But I think I can help Moldova learn from what has worked well in other countries, and also from what has not turned out so well. And I hope that this will help you to create a strategy that will be really effective and sustainable in the future," Sean Mundy said. He stressed that it is very important to set priorities. "There are a lot of initiatives you can take. If you try to do too many, resources will be wasted and you will end up doing nothing at all. Therefore, it is important to choose those initiatives that will bring the biggest changes in Moldova, that will have an impact on people, because there is no point in doing something if it will not affect people's behavior. But it is also important to choose initiatives that will help us reach a significant number of people, because if you help only a few people, it won't make a difference either. So, in a way, Moldova is in the same position that the UK was in, as any other country that is starting to develop a national financial education strategy. And I say this because Moldova already has a number of initiatives underway, but they are usually small, uncoordinated, scattered, not very strategic. So, now is the time to develop a truly strategic vision, where the initiatives that will bring the biggest change are chosen and where the different organizations that want to support the development and implementation of the strategy can support it to really go forward and make a difference across the country," the British expert said. Helping citizens engage with the financial system is crucial, he said, because in today's world we all deal with money and many of us deal with financial institutions. "Of course, people will feel better if they have financial education rather than keeping all their money in cash at home. So I think it's about showing people how with a few simple steps: planning, budgeting, saving and using some of the financial tools available - deposits, insurance, etc. – we can help them and their families improve their well-being, become better off, lead a more enjoyable life. And like any other initiative, we need to learn. Some things are not entirely obvious. So financial education encourages people to help themselves - that's the strategy of financial education. It can help individuals, but it will also help financial institutions if people are more engaged, they're more willing to buy their products, their services, and it will also help the government achieve a number of objectives. So I think it's a real win. Everybody wins," Sean Mundy stated. He said if a country takes financial education seriously, it will have a more stable and successful economy. "And the reason is that if people manage their money better, they'll have more resources, they'll be more productive. And when we summarize that across the country, it means that the country becomes more productive, more economically stable. So, these are steps that benefit each individual, but also benefit the country as a whole and society as a whole," the British expert emphasized. According to him, it is necessary to ensure that the population is financially educated, as money is important for everyone, "regardless of whether we have very little of it or people are lucky enough to be rich." "However, the money we have needs to be used as efficiently as possible. And people need to understand how to do that. And they need the confidence to be able to take steps that are in their best interests. And as with any other topic, we can either learn from mistakes or we can get education and training that will help us avoid mistakes and give people opportunities, for example, to avoid risk. So I think money is so important to our society that it's worth investing time and resources to help people use it as wisely and productively as possible," said Sean Mundy. // 23.11.2023 – InfoMarket
