Banking institutions in the world are showing increasing interest in savings for young people and children, by encouraging them to save part of their money for the future. This effort is not exclusively targeted at affluent families, but economically weaker groups are also keen even small amounts from their monthly income for the future.
Many forums and events are held every year that discuss these issues, which help countries rely on the savings of their citizens to fund the development of important projects These funds strengthen their infrastructure without the need to go to international banking institutions for loans or external financing, which come with large interest payments and financial costs. Several governments, such as Japan, China and others, have been able to harness their savings and the private funds of their citizens to help local banks secure loans at low interest rates, which helps in establishing more projects and providing many opportunities for job seekers.
Central banks and banking institutions, for their part, participate in a number of activities held for this purpose. Recently, the Central Bank of Oman participated in the “Global Money Week” campaign organised by the International Network for Financial Education of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (ECD/INFE) with the aim of enabling children and youth to learn how to manage their financial resources wisely and help them learn ways to save and earn money.
These events provide the young with the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to make sound financial decisions in order to achieve financial success.
Such goals are being achieved in cooperation with several savings agencies and local banks, which are required to show greater care in campaigns to carry out activities that help children save and preserve money. These activities and campaigns mainly aim at educating young kids from schools, colleges and universities, where the focus is on savings and financial sustainability issues, in addition to raising awareness about the beneficial effects of good financial habits to secure one’s future and contribute to a productive economy.
All of these activities help children imbibe a culture of saving at a time when some social media and modern technologies can be a negative influence and even encourage wasteful and reckless spending. In the belief of these institutions, they consolidate the principle of financial inclusion, which it aims to achieve and reach every person in the country. It improves the youth’s understanding of financial well-being and financial sustainability. Also, it empowers them to manage their commercial set-ups and enterprises so that they can be independently employed in the future.
Banking institutions today must continue to provide more services and offer a helping hand to self-employed entrepreneurs, as well as the facilities and benefits that they seek to help build their savings in their own interest and that of the national economy.
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