Improving financial literacy

PETALING JAYA: Visa has teamed up with the National Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency or AKPK – a Bank Negara unit – and some banks to raise the level of financial management and literacy in the country, a timely move considering one out of five Malaysians practically have zero savings and the ratio of household debt to gross domestic product is at about 77%.

Visa country manager for Malaysia Stuart Tomlinson said proactive steps were needed to improve financial literacy among individuals, including youth. “We are bringing in programmes globally and domestically that are designed to know how to spend, save and budget more wisely and responsibly. For nearly two decades, Visa has been developing programmes to enhance financial literacy,’’ he said during a press briefing at the launch of the Visa Financial Football Malaysia 2013 online competition. The competition is designed to teach money-management skills to the younger population.