Month-long Financial Literacy Initiative (FLI) will start in mid-April. It is an initiative taken for the first time in Nepal by Center for Economic and Financial Studies (CEFS), says coordinator of the initiative Olin Thakur. New Business Age Pvt Ltd will contribute to the event as an official media partner. “Financial Literacy Month Celebration” is a part of Financial Literacy Initiative, Thakur says, adding that the celebration includes various workshops, quiz/essay competitions, round table discussions, award distributions and various other financial awareness activities in various places across the nation.

“Financial literacy is the ability to understand how money works in the world: how someone manages to earn or make it, how that person manages it, how he/she invests it (turn it into more) and how that person donates it to help others,” according to organiser.Financial literacy encompasses both knowing about money matters and being equipped to utilize that knowledge by applying it across a range of contexts. What a person needs to know to be financially literate will vary depending upon their circumstances and needs. 

Generally, however, it will involve an understanding of a person’s own values and priorities, budgeting, savings and how to manage money, credit, the importance of insurance and protecting against risk, investment basics and retirement planning along with others.

Why is it Important in context of Nepal?

Good financial literacy skills help individuals and families make the most of opportunities, meet their goals and secure their financial wellbeing, as well as contribute to the economic health of society, Thakur claims. “Improved financial literacy can increase economic participation and social inclusion, drive competition and market efficiency in the financial services sector, and potentially reduce regulatory intervention.”

Individuals and households must have the tools to cope with the increasingly complex world of financial instruments. Moreover, financial education ensures poverty reduction and economic growth facility. So, financial literacy is becoming more necessary. Nevertheless, it refers to the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources. Raising interest in personal finance is now a focus program in most countries around the globe, according to organiser.

Organiser says that Financial Literacy Initiative is to help Nepali people in understanding and addressing financial matters, and thereby contribute financial wellbeing; to promote and enhance financial capability among each; to enhance the present knowledge base; to manage financial resources effectively; to empower individuals to make informed choices, avoid pitfalls, know where to go for help; and take other actions to improve their present and long-term financial well-being.

“We believe that Financial literacy Initiative will be very crucial in helping the Nepali citizens of various age groups of Nepal to understand and adjust to the situation in which they are now to help them acknowledge themselves in a wiser way and find the loopholes and the gaps in their way of doing micro-macro financial transactions in their day to day lives,” Thakur further added.

Bridging Gaps 

It aims at facilitating them to bridge the gaps in their financial knowledge and understanding as well as enable them to manage their day to day transactions and future planning in a cost-time efficient ways be it the transaction of a rupee or a million. The event page can be found at social network website facebook by clicking: www.facebook.com/flinepal or official website of Center for Economic and Financial Studies (CEFS).