Reading, writing and... financial literacy

Article - November 17, 2011

According to Amando M. Tetangco Jr., Governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines (BSP), over the past decade the total portfolio of microfinancing activities by the country’s banks has reached PhP 7 billion ($161 million).

However, the involvement of NGOs, cooperatives and other organizations not under the central bank’s supervision could well take this figure up to PhP 20 billion. As such, the BSP has gone to great lengths to educate the nation’s budding entrepreneurs in the services banks can offer.

“We have set-up an Economic and Financial Learning Center here in the BSP main office that is open to the public,” he says. “So anyone can go there free of charge, do research, use the facilities, the Internet, database, etc. We have replicated this Economic Financial Learning Center in 21 other locations across the country. We have also been working with the Department of Education to teach basic financial concepts as early as elementary grade in public schools. So now we have money management and savings as part of the curriculum.”