Financial Education in Latin America and the Caribbean: Rationale, Overview and Way Forward

This paper highlights the characteristics of financial education programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. It also studies the challenges faced by governments and program designers and puts them into a regional context. The paper analyzes information gathered through global stocktaking exercises and surveys conducted within the OECD International Network for Financial Education and the survey conducted by the Central Bank of Colombia, the Financial Institutions Guarantee Fund of Colombia, and the Development Bank of Latin America. It makes the following observations:

• Financial education programs are widespread in the region and are seen as important tools by governments and public institutions;
• Preliminary evidence suggests that financial education initiatives in the focus regions look promising and display positive results notably where access to products and services is combined with financial education and awareness programs;
• Financial education is acquiring a policy priority in Latin America and the Caribbean;
• Design and implementation of programs and national initiatives could further benefit from relevant international good practices and instruments.