2012-04-27
The Bank of Lithuania undertakes the coordination of financial education projects for the public
To increase the public understanding about financial services and products and capability of their assessment, the Bank of Lithuania will focus on the consolidation of the efforts of various institutions and organisations to organise financial education of the public. Cooperation possibilities among associations of financial market participants, consumer organisations, public institutions and education establishments and potential priorities of joint activity were discussed at the meeting at the Bank of Lithuania.
“It is difficult to overestimate the importance of financial education. This kind of education not only helps people to take more rational financial decisions, but also encourages more responsible behaviour by financial market participants. This activity may be effective only through cooperation of all institutions concerned, therefore, we undertake the initiative to coordinate financial education projects for the public”, said Mr. Vilius Šapoka, Director of the Financial Services and Markets Supervision Department of the Supervision Service of the Bank of Lithuania.
In the nearest time, it is planned to create a group of experts from institutions engaged or interested in financial education, financial market participants and consumer organisations, which would evaluate the work performed in this area and present proposals on the preparation of the national financial education strategy and the action plan for its implementation.
“In the nearest time, we will also conduct a research on financial knowledge of the population in Lithuania and their solution of daily financial tasks. Taking into consideration the research results, we will plan the actions for the organisation of financial education in several coming years and potential contribution of individual public institutions, financial market participants and consumer organisations in this important work”, told Mr. Šapoka.
The Bank of Lithuania plans to prepare a special website dedicated to financial education, which will contain useful information for users of financial products directed to various target user groups.
After the reform of the domestic financial market supervision system and its consolidation at the Bank of Lithuania since the beginning of this year, financial education, as an important element in ensuring responsible usage of financial products, is one of the priority areas of activity of the Bank of Lithuania.