The National Bank proposes to expand the scope and duration of the National Financial Education Program
During the National Forum "Financial Education for All", the Vice President of the National Bank Petru Rotaru presented the guidelines for the future program, which the regulator developed with the support of the USAID Moldova Institutional and Structural Reform Program (MISRA) in cooperation with the inter-institutional working group and with the participation of civil society. The program is aimed at strengthening financial knowledge among the population, facilitating the use of financial products and services, and effective management of personal funds. In the action plan for 2025-2028, special attention is proposed to be paid to financial education in schools, reducing excessive indebtedness of the population and developing educational resources for various categories of citizens. The target participants of the program will be all citizens of Moldova, regardless of age and occupation, especially children and youth, rural population, pensioners and senior citizens, low-income citizens, the unemployed and other vulnerable groups who are more exposed to the risk of financial fraud or borrowing money from informal sources. The goal of the program is to strengthen the knowledge, competencies and trust of the population to make responsible financial decisions. According to Petru Rotaru, the National Bank will be the national coordinator, managing and monitoring the implementation of the program. The National Bank will also manage a special website dedicated to financial literacy. It is planned to develop educational resources on the use of financial products and services and introduce them into the national curriculum at all levels of education. It is also planned to create partnerships between the authorities, the private sector and civil society and create digital educational resources that will provide financial advice to citizens. The program will be accompanied by an information campaign aimed at increasing awareness when consuming financial services, and all competent authorities will interact to ensure its effectiveness - the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education, the National Bank and others. The program will increase financial inclusion, reduce the financial vulnerability of citizens and increase their level of trust in the financial system, and provide sustainable support for vulnerable groups of the population. It is worth noting that, according to a study conducted within the framework of the MISRA project, 65.2% of citizens in Moldova assess their financial knowledge as "average" and only 12.9% believe that their level of financial literacy is above average. About 68% of the population has an account in financial institutions, and this figure is lower than the average level in the member countries of the Organization for Economic Development (80%). Herewith, in general, the financial goals of respondents are related to current tasks, and investment and entrepreneurial goals remain at an extremely low level. The survey, conducted in September-October 2023, involved 1,024 people aged 18 to 75 years.// 10.12.2024 – InfoMarket.
