UAE ranks top for financial education

The UAE ranks top among the countries in the Middle East North Africa region for financial education, a new survey reveals. The UAE scored just under ten points below the leading country Brazil in the 2012 Global Financial Literacy Barometer that assessed and ranked the financial literacy levels of people in 28 nations. Brazil was followed by Mexico, Australia, the United States and Canada as having the most financially literate people. “The results show that parents in the UAE have a particularly positive approach to encouraging financial literacy among their children compared to most wealthy countries, with 78 per cent believing it is important to speak to their children about their financial future on a regular basis,” said organisers of the Sixth Annual Global Summit on Financial Literacy held in Chicago. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Visa hosted the event. According to the survey, 25 per cent of respondents with a high income say they do not have enough funds to cover a personal economic emergency fall into high-income categories. A high level of respondents in the UAE (70 per cent) admitted that they do not have the funds necessary to survive a personal economic emergency lasting more than three months. Respondents in more than half of the 28 countries surveyed believe that overall, teenagers and young adults do not understand money management basics, such as budgeting, savings, debt and spending responsibly. Across the globe, the youngest and oldest citizens face the most personal economic risk in the sense that they have the smallest emergency reserves and they are least likely to follow a budget. “The barometer clearly demonstrates that while there have been great strides made in advancing financial education there is still much more to be done,” said Oliver Jenkyn, group executive, North America, Visa Inc. “That is why Visa and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago share a commitment to helping people of all ages gain the financial tools necessary to become better money managers. The annual Financial Literacy Summit is an important part of this effort.” The summit on financial literacy was part of an ongoing commitment to promote and facilitate good money skills. Attended by senior Visa representatives from across the Mena region, the event explored potential solutions to improving financial literacy worldwide as part of both organisation’s commitment to improving financial literacy rates. The summit was moderated by Janet Bodnar, editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, one of the most trusted personal finance publications in the US. From khaleejtimes