Financial literacy is a prerequisite for effective financial inclusion, which will ensure that financial services “reach the unreached and under-reached sections of the society,” India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee stated recently.  Delivering the inaugural address at an international workshop on ‘Delivering financial literacy: challenges, strategies and instruments,’ organized jointly by the Reserve Bank of India and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mr. Mukherjee observed that the “outcome from the elaborate system of priority sector lending in India has been mixed.”  Mr. Mukherjee pointed out that the global economic crisis happened because ordinary people did not understand adjustable rate mortgages or risks associated with credit card debt. “Financial markets now offer complex choices to consumers, but literacy is essential for consumers to make informed choices,” he remarked.   Source: The Hindu

Published in the BIIA Newsletter April II – 2010 Issue