PM proposes financial literacy initiative to foster a culture of saving and investment

PM proposes financial literacy initiative to foster a culture of saving and investment

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has proposed a comprehensive financial literacy initiative to encourage a culture of saving which will allow the development of a sustainable investment plan for the long-term security of families.

While responding to the President’s speech in Parliament, Rabuka says before Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Professor Biman Prasad went on his recent official trip to India, he had asked him to study the developments introduced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that every person in India, all 1.408 billion of them, has a bank account, every market and street-side vendor has a credit card terminal, or EFTPOS, the electronic funds transfer at point of sale.

The Prime Minister says that Professor Prasad has told him that he had a very fruitful discussion in India and Rabuka is waiting for him to introduce some ideas in Parliament.

He says he was inspired to ask Professor Prasad to do that in India when he noticed a young caddy pulling a golf player’s bag on a trolley who had told him that probably none of the $40 fees paid would go home to his family.

Rabuka says Fiji could emulate India’s comprehensive financial literacy programme and under this programme, people can make informed decisions about saving, investing and managing finances effectively.