FINANCIAL LITERACY CENTRE

Financial literacy is the ability of a person to effectively manage variety of financial skills, such as personal finance management, budgeting, and investing

- D. Surendranath

Introduction

In India, the need for financial literacy is necessary as the education level of Indians is low and large section of the population is still outside the formal financial system. Financial literacy is a precondition for success of Financial Inclusion.

For effective Financial Inclusion, Financial Literacy is essential to ensure financial services reach the unreached & under-reached section of the Society. Government of India along with various regulators are constantly working towards growth by implementing financial literacy courses, workshops and schemes.

Importance of Financial Literacy in India

Financial literacy is one of the biggest assets of any country as it is directly proportional to the economic growth. The significance of financial literacy in India are as follow:

• Development of rural areas: Reaching out to rural sections and working on their development can be achieved through financial literacy. This can be achieved by making people more aware about the available resources and right way of utilizing them.
• Ease in borrowing: Many people borrowed money from informal sources and pay higher interests. Financial education can help poor people to make informed decisions and make the best use of available resources.
• Ease in doing business transactions: The launch of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has led opening of many new Savings Bank accounts. These accounts have led to an ease in doing business as well as personal transactions to a great extent.
• Growth of MSMES: MSMEs contribute to 29% of India's GDP with 50% of exports coming from this sector. Financial literacy can help small businesses to grow and introduction of new business Entrepreneurs to increase growth to the sector.

Government initiatives for Financial Literacy