BANKS in Slovakia confirm that financial literacy among Slovaks is low. Based on the latest survey, which the IMAS company conducted for Slovenská Sporiteľňa (SLSP) last year, as many as 70 percent of respondents said that they consider financial education at schools to be insufficient and that they need to improve their knowledge in this field. About 43 percent of respondents aged 15-49 feel well informed about economic and financial topics, but in the category of people aged 50+, it is only 32 percent. Men tend to consider themselves better informed about financial matters than women.
“A similar situation also [exists] in other central and eastern European countries,” Marta Krejcarová, the director of communication and sponsorship at SLSP told The Slovak Spectator. “A large majority of people in this region want to be better informed about economic and financial issues. The respondents also confirmed that banks too should play a role in financial education.”
ING carried out financial literacy surveys over two consecutive years and the results among Slovaks are rather unflattering.
“Based on the latest survey from 2012, only a shocking 9 percent of Slovaks are good with finances,” Renata Mrázová, the general director for insurance and pensions at ING ČR/SR, told The Slovak Spectator, adding that out of 10 European countries, only Spaniards and Turks finished behind Slovaks. Czechs are not significantly better with finances, with only 14 percent of the population financially literate at levels that can be considered good or excellent.
Mrázová identified that Slovaks have the biggest problems with saving (in terms of calculating interest rates or interpreting yields from deposits). On the other hand, Slovaks have a high level of financial self-confidence, and 80 percent of them are convinced that they understand financial affairs.
“It is interesting that based on the survey neither education nor the level of income is a guarantee of good financial know-how,” said Mrázová.
