Government to introduce financial literacy in school education

  The government plans to launch financial literacy in the school curriculum very soon. The knowledge of Financial & Capital markets will be disseminated in the form of primary and secondary curriculum.

Objective:

1. Enhance the household contribution into equity markets
2. Reduce over-dependency of the economy on foreign capita
3. Promote domestic investment and make Retail investors feel more confident of corporate India

Some latest crucial Facts:

• In India domestic saving has a share of 37-40% of the total savings
• Only 5% of domestic savings comes into capital markets

Why the Govt wants to introduce such course in school education?

With only 5 % of total domestic savings being invested in capital market, Govt sees a huge opportunity to bring in more untapped domestic capital. This can be possible by educating people about the financial and capital markets. It can seen as a long-term initiative as youth who get this education will understand the importance of these markets and also become more comfortable with such investment. Thus the programme will encourage them to invest in these markets in future. This will in turn infuse domestic capital and reduce the over-dependency on FIIs. A large part of Indian economy is being driven at the mercy of foreign investors which has recently resulted into greater volatility and instability in the market. For instance, in the 1^st quarter of 2012, FIIs inflated the equity markets by infusing about $8.84 billion (Rs 50,000 crore). But after April 1, 2012 the stocks fumbled as a result of foreign investors pulling out $504.2 million (Rs 2,800 crore) from the equity markets.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2012