"In other countries, financial education is mandatory to be included in the curriculum," executive head of the OJK's Financial Services Business Players' Behavior, Education, and Consumer Protection Supervisory Agency, Friderica Widyasari Dewi, said on the sidelines of the OECD/INFE-OJK Conference here on Friday.
She underlined that financial education is essential to help people better manage their finances.
Financial management, including awareness about investment and insurance, is also deemed essential for micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) players considering that MSMEs create many jobs and support economic growth in the country.
According to Dewi, Indonesia is facing challenges in financial education programs given its geographic characteristics as an archipelago and large population of around 270 million people.
Therefore, the OJK is carrying out a nationwide movement, namely the National Movement for Financial Literacy, which was launched in August 2024.
Under the movement, around 10 thousand programs have been carried out involving up to 32 million participants across Indonesia, in collaboration with financial service institutions, communities, academicians, media, and other stakeholders.
Several regions have been selected to improve financial education, including regions in Sulawesi and Papua.
This has been done so that the OJK can provide resources more effectively to boost financial literacy and financial inclusion.
Based on the National Financial Literacy and Inclusion Survey (SNLIK) 2024, there is still a 9.59 percentage points gap between the financial inclusion rate (75.02 percent) and the financial literacy rate (65.43 percent) among Indonesians.
"We are targeting an improvement of the financial literacy and inclusion index to welcome Golden Indonesia 2045, namely to reach 98 percent," Dewi said.
Related news: OJK highlights need to increase people's financial literacy
Related news: Financial education must be bolstered among youth: OJK
Related news: Digital financial education for young investors appreciated: analyst
Translator: Dewa Ketut, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
Copyright © ANTARA 2024
