Romania Both Leads and Lacks in Financial Literacy

by | 03/24/14 | Commentary, Uncategorized

The Financial Education Conference in Romania this March was kicked off by Visa, the Bank of Romania, and NGOs such as Junior Achievement and Chile & Youth Finance International.  The bank’s Governor, Mugur Isarescu, remarked that the event was part of many initiatives supporting this year’s Money Week.

Romania is among many nations that are moving quickly to address high rates of financial literacy in a society and economy in which financial services are having a more impactful role in the lives of individuals and families.  Romania’s financial literacy strategy includes a coordinated set of initiatives among the country’s Ministry of Education, the National Authority for Consumers’ Protection, Junior Achievement, Biblionet, and UNDP.  The coalition is working hard to incorporate financial education into the daily lives of Romanians.

But while Romania is moving forward with a national financial literacy effort, the nation still lags in this area in a number of important respects.  One factor hampering Romania’s further development is the fact that the country is not represented in EU Expert Group on Financial Education that was created in 2008.  The group is comprised of representatives of European NGOs, foundations, public institutions and banks.  Many also contend that other metrics, such as Romania’s relatively poor GDP per local EU ranking, are a result of poor financial education in the country.

Romania’s plight is not uncommon in many nations throughout the world that, like Romania, are beginning to move forward more aggressively with financial literacy initiatives, while continuing to exhibit weak levels of financial education and aptitude among individuals in this area.  But financial literacy proponents are promulgating that the continued focus on national financial literacy efforts by these nations will translate into significant success once their initiatives are rolled out and take effect.

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