PM tells banks: Go grassroots with financial literacy, schools can’t do it all

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today called on banks to go beyond schools and directly engage with communities in raising financial literacy.

Speaking at the launch of Financial Literacy Month at Sasana Kijang here, Anwar told top financial executives that the responsibility could not rest solely on the education system.

“I believe banks should put some effort to reach out directly to communities like at the mosque, grassroots associations to educate them about financial literacy,” he said.

“You can’t just depend on schools. They are already shouldering immense responsibilities in teaching,” he added.

Bank Negara Malaysia is leading this year’s financial literacy campaign with support from the country’s banking institutions.

The Financial Capability and Inclusion Demand Side (FCI) Survey last held in 2024 showed that at the broad level financial literacy levels in Malaysia have been largely unchanged since 2021, with the MYFLIC Index at 59.1 (2021: 59.0). 

But BNM said there have been improvements observed in financial knowledge (+2.7), although declines were seen in the scores for financial behaviour.

Anwar expressed concern about how vulnerable people are to financial scams today, pointing out that some of the victims are highly educated and are believed to be financially literate.

“Even when we are more advanced today, with public awareness campaigns, there is still gullibility and vulnerability towards scams  and I find this very confusing,” he said.

“We know the victims are former chief executives, with high levels of education, how can they easily be defrauded...this is a challenge we must address and we need to do more to raise literacy,” he added. 

The Financial Literacy Month campaign is held in conjunction with the launch of the Malaysia National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2026-2030 (NS2.0), which builds on the first National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2019–2023 (NS1.0).

BNM said the newly launched NS2.0, themed “Shaping a Resilient Financial Future”, sets a more “forward-looking direction to strengthen financial literacy nationwide”, with five Strategic Priorities designed to support Malaysians in managing their financial affairs at every stage of life.

The launch was also attended by Minister of Education Fadhlina Sidek, BNM Governor Datuk Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour, Securities Commission Chairman Datuk Mohammad Faiz Azmi, and members of the Financial Education Network High-Level Inter-Agency Steering Committee.