MALAYSIA is pursuing a national network for financial education that will help communities caught in the rapid urbanisation shift to practise responsible financial management.
Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said urbanisation brings about opportunities for greater access to financial products and services.
Aggressive marketing practices, complex financial products as well as new technology in which financial services are delivered can be overwhelming to consumers and businesses.
“A key concern is to strengthen the capability of financial consumers, especially household and small businesses,” she said, adding that this is to avoid being marginalised by the impact of changing financial and social landscape.
Just like the rapid growth in urbanisation in Asia over the past two decades, urbanisation has become more pronounced in Malaysia.
The proportion of the Malaysian population living in urban areas has increased from less than 50 per cent in 1990 to more than 70 per cent in 2010, and is expected to rise further to 75 per cent in 2020.
“Financial education is an important link in the efforts to build a financial system that is resilient against crises and abuse, while limiting the adverse socio-economic implications that can arise.”
Speaking at the Citi-FT Financial Education Summit, here, the forum aims to advance the financial literacy agenda, Zeti said, while the government has a key role in driving the financial education agenda, the private sector also needs to be involved in the education of financial consumers.
In Malaysia, a national network for financial education is being pursued involving several key stakeholders to provide a platform to drive, prioritise and coordinate the financial education initiatives.
She said financial education has an important role to prepare individuals in emerging economies to adjust to the new economic, financial and social realities.
While inclusive growth strategies have gained prominence in recent years among the policymakers in the region, this needs to be reinforced by strategies targeted at preparing individuals at an early stage, Zeti said.
she added that financial education has a critical role in equipping consumers with knowledge to utilise e-payments responsibly and to help consumers protect themselves from risks of financial scams that exploit specific vulnerabilities associated with online payment platforms.
“Financial education has also been a lynchpin in our efforts to encourage retirement planning. As life expectancy increases, consumers are expected to plan and manage their finances effectively for their retirement.”
Zeti said the central bank and the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency have worked with more than 200 organisations in Malaysia to deliver financial capability programmes at the workplace.
