Skopje, 14 December 2023 

The fifth working meeting for monitoring the implementation of the Strategy for Financial Education and Financial Inclusion was held on 13 December, under the coordination of the National Bank, attended by representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Agency for Supervision of Fully Funded Pension Insurance and the Insurance Supervision Agency, as well as the private and civil sector entities.

The objective of the meeting is to enable regular dialog between financial regulators, private and civil sector entities involved in the financial education activities, as well as exchange of proposals and experiences to strengthen financial inclusion and consumer protection in the financial system, for the purpose of successful implementation of the Strategy for Financial Education and Financial Inclusion.

The meeting was also attended by the representative of the United States Department of the Treasury, Ms Danielle Hopkins, Financial Inclusion Adviser, who shared the experience of the activities carried out in the field of financial education, inclusion and consumer protection in the USA and beyond. The experiences shared within the technical assistance provide for the Ministry of Finance a basis to see new possibilities to improve the financial literacy of the population in our country.

At the meeting, the Working Group members were acquainted with the second phase of the Regional Financial Literacy Project supported by the International Network on Financial Education INFE - OECD and the Ministry of Finance of the Netherlands, which will take place in the period from 2023 to 2027. The main goals of the second phase are to support the implementation of the national strategies, the exchange of experiences between the involved ten countries of the region and further research activities in this area.

The Working Group members were also presented with the Joint Activities Plan of the Coordinating Body for 2024, which in addition to the regular events and activities, includes activities about the implementation of the Strategy in the field of financial education, financial inclusion and consumer protection. Moreover, it was emphasized that for 2024 enhanced cooperation is planned with the Bureau for Development of Education with respect to the educational programs which include financial education within the educational system.

In addition, a call was issued to the private and the civil sectors for active involvement in the financial education and inclusion activities, in order to ensure a wider range of the population.

The Working Group for monitoring of the implementation of the Strategy, composed of representatives of the regulatory institutions, the associations of the private and the civil sectors, holds two meetings every year, around the middle and towards the end of the year.