FINANCIAL LITERACY IN ROMANIA 2010 (English version)

The analysis presented below is based on baseline survey on Financial Literacy in Romania1. The report uses three concepts: (a) financial literacy, (b) financial education and (c) financial capability, which are related, but not similar. Following the conceptual model of financial capability (Kempson et al, 2005), the report puts forward a typology and an overall index of financial literacy in Romania. The analysis proves that the level of financial literacy is a significant determinant of the level of financial capability in all four domains - money management, provisioning for the future, making financial choices, and staying informed about financial matters - in which financial capability could be observed and measured. Consequently, the low level of financial literacy of the general population translates in the fact that in Romania most population: (1) struggles to keep up with their financial commitments and make little use of financial products either to finance deficit or to manage spare money (2) is passive in defending their rights in relation with the financial institutions (3) is unprepared for the unexpected. Increasing financial literacy is a prerequisite of improvement of population capability to organize their resources in more appropriate ways and to make adequate financial provision for the future.