Singapore, 16 October 2003...Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Mr Lee Hsien Loong, today announced the launch of a national financial education programme called "MoneySENSE". MoneySENSE brings together current industry and public sector initiatives in financial education for a long term, sustainable programme to enhance the basic financial literacy of consumers. Need for increased efforts in financial education 2 Speaking in Parliament today, DPM Lee said, "Over the past few years, we have been progressively liberalizing the financial markets. This has led to greater innovation in the financial services industry, with institutions offering more complex and varied products. We have also moved away from a prescriptive approach to a disclosure-based regime." DPM Lee added that, "In this new and changing environment, Singaporeans need to become more self-reliant in their financial affairs. They must acquire the knowledge and skills to manage their day-to-day finances, make prudent investments and plan for their longer-term needs. They must also be equipped to exercise their rights as consumers, so that financial institutions will treat them fairly, or else lose customers. This makes it important to educate Singaporeans to be knowledgeable in financial affairs". MoneySENSE national financial education programme 3 The MoneySENSE programme covers 3 tiers of financial literacy: - Tier I - Basic Money Management - which covers skills in budgeting and saving, and provides tips on the responsible use of credit;
- Tier II - Financial Planning - to equip Singaporeans with the skills and knowledge to plan for their long-term financial needs; and
- Tier III - Investment Know-How - which imparts knowledge about the different investment products and skills for investing.
4 Industry associations, community organisations and consumer bodies will be involved in developing activities and programmes for MoneySENSE. These include organising community talks and workshops and distributing educational guides to consumers. MoneySENSE will also be using various channels to reach out to different segments of the community. 5 The following MoneySENSE tagline will unify and bring under a common umbrella all financial education activities supported by the national programme.
6 To ensure a steady stream of activities in the initial years, S$1 million a year will be set aside under the Financial Sector Development Fund for the next three years to co-fund activities under the MoneySENSE programme. 7 A Financial Education Steering Committee, chaired by MAS, oversees the MoneySENSE programme. The other government agencies on the steering committee are the Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS), Ministry of Education (MOE), Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Central Provident Fund Board (CPF Board) and People's Association (PA). "For the Consumer" Portal 8 In conjunction with the launch of MoneySENSE, MAS unveiled a "For The Consumer" portal. Residing on MAS' website, the portal will provide useful links to educational resources and offer practical tips to help the consumer better manage his finances and understand his rights and responsibilities. Activities under MoneySENSE 9 The first programme under MoneySENSE is a series of interactive skits organised by MCDS, CPF Board, Financial Planning Association of Singapore, Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC) and the National Library Board. The programme will portray the importance of good money management habits through a fun and light-hearted interactive skit. Participants will learn simple money management tips such as how to develop a budget and how to better manage their debt. The programme is intended to reinforce the importance of developing good money management habits from a young age. Attachments Fact Sheet 1: What MoneySENSE aims to do (18.2 KB) Fact Sheet 2: What MoneySENSE will offer in the year ahead (12.6 KB) Fact Sheet 3: MoneySENSE logo (33.7 KB) Fact Sheet 4: Financial Education Steering Committee (10.7 KB) Fact Sheet 5: MAS "For The Consumer" Portal (13 KB) Fact Sheet 6: First interactive skit planned (14.4 KB) Fact Sheet 7: Other activities under MoneySENSE (20.8 KB) *** |