Towards financial literacy

Most Pakistanis have none or very little financial literacy. According to a recent survey conducted by Standard and Poor’s, 74 per cent of all Pakistani adults are financially illiterate. This is an extremely alarming statistic. How will we ever make any progress in the realm of financial inclusion if our people do not know how debit and credit work or what interest rates mean and how they are calculated. Both the private and public sectors should launch a financial literacy initiative.

This may involve setting up free workshops in poor urban areas and rural villages to teach people the basics of finance and banking. Another solution may be to give people Ehsaas or Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) payments by making deposits in an account and issuing cards linked to these accounts, allowing the poor to get some hands-on experience with finance.

Haani Mustafa

Karachi