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Conclusions of the Second Meeting of the International Network on Financial Education and of the Joint OECD-Bank Indonesia Conference on Financial Education
Bali, Indonesia, October 20-22, 2008
As the financial crisis spreads around the world, governments have reached a consensus. Prudential regulation needs to be bolstered with other measures that can protect and strengthen the financial system. The crisis has reinforced convictions that a well functioning financial system requires enhanced financial literacy and awareness. But even without this crisis, developments in financial markets, demographics, economic and policy changes are all pointing to the importance of financial education.
The Joint OECD-Bank Indonesia Conference on Financial Education, held on October 22-23 in Bali, highlighted the OECD’s leadership role in nurturing global awareness on the importance of financial literacy. At the conference, OECD Deputy Secretary General, Thelma Askey, reiterated the urgency for world-wide governments to co-operate to raise levels of financial literacy globally. The conference provided the opportunity for the OECD and Bank Indonesia to develop a joint statement whereby the parties express their intention to explore avenues for further co-operation to promote financial education and awareness in Indonesia and South Eastern Asia. The statement could lead to a memorandum of understanding in 2009.
In the margins of the conference, the International Network on Financial Education held its second meeting. This network, created by the OECD earlier this year, is a unique forum for financial education experts from over 50 governments to interact and provide valuable input on OECD work before it becomes publicly available. At the meeting, the Network identified its immediate working priorities, to which members committed to contribute. Those priorities relate to the promotion of financial education in schools, and the development of methodologies to generate internationally comparable data on financial literacy and measure the effectiveness of financial education programmes.
These latest priorities are consistent with the importance given by the OECD Secretary General to financial education. Last June at the OECD’s Ministerial meeting, Mr. Gurria assured governments that the OECD would strengthen its leadership on financial education by addressing new trends, developing more guidelines and further promoting worldwide exchanges on good practices in OECD and non-OECD countries alike.
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