"OJK always encourages improvement in this financial literacy aspect so that the gap (between financial literacy and inclusion) becomes smaller," he said during an event entitled “Encouraging Financial Literacy and Inclusion”, which was followed online in Jakarta.
He highlighted the significant gap between the two aspects. In 2022, the national financial literacy index stood at 49.68 percent, while financial inclusion was recorded at 85.1 percent.
Hence, there was a gap of around 35 percent, he noted, adding it reflects the condition of the people.
People use financial products, however, they do not truly understand how the products work, which makes them more likely to fall victim to fraudulent schemes, he explained.
According to Yulianta, the OJK has devised some initiatives and strategies for improving financial literacy, including education on finance, infrastructure development, policy and regulations, collaboration and strategic alliance, as well as programs to improve literacy in sharia finance and the stock market.
Offline education is being conducted to educate people in remote areas as well as vulnerable people who have limited access to cyberspace, he informed.
The development of the financial literacy infrastructure is being pursued through the establishment of a system and study materials that can be accessed by everyone so that more people can gain access to learning, Yulianta said.
Stronger collaboration and strategic alliances are being pushed by building synergy among ministries, institutions, regulators, the financial services industry, as well as the relevant stakeholders to enable financial literacy and education programs, he informed.
Regarding improvement in policy and regulation, OJK is pursuing it by devising the National Strategy on Financial Literacy, he said.
The strategy is meant as a guide to the flow of financial literacy improvement efforts as well as a guide for formulating financial literacy and inclusion policies, he informed.
Yulianta said that the initiative is part of the effort to encourage financial services industry players to take part in the push to improve financial literacy.
Lastly, to improve sharia finance and stock market literacy, OJK is collaborating with relevant stakeholders to create programs, including financial literacy education and competitions, he informed.
"Our survey results show that the scope of sharia finance and stock market (literacy program) is still small, therefore, we have a special strategy to improve sharia finance and stock market (literacy)," he said.
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Translator: Martha Herlinawati S, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Anton Santoso
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