Financial literacy in the UAE

After witnessing UAE making money blunder left, right and center repeatedly there is only one question left to ask. Where and when did the rains start beating UAE? The true answer to this question is; financial illiteracy. It is very painful to admit that simple truth especially in time when that kind of ailment is a thing of the past, a bygone. Well, at least not in UAE.

Citizens should be made aware of the importance of good financial management and future implications of financial illiteracy in the future. UAE is already experiencing financial implication as a result of past financial incompetence. One of the implications is, discouragement of investors in Emirates.

A study conducted indicated that the degree of financial illiteracy was slightly higher in women compared to men and other factors that affected the same include: workplace activity, education level and income level. Religion and rumors also play a big role here.

Whereas the financial predicaments for UAE are out there for everyone to see, we cannot completely ignore a few steps that have been made in the right direction. The states literacy rankings improved from sixth in 2010 to third in 2012 making it among the best three it terms of financial literacy in the Middle East, but that is just the Middle East. The world is much bigger than just the east.

The financial literacy aggregate in 2010 was 63 index points while that of 2012 was 61 index points. Egypt topped with 68 index points while Saudi Arabia followed by 62 index points.
Fortunately, there is a financial literacy hope for UAE. Finally there are people paying attention about this situation and doing something positive about it. For example, Injaz together with Abu Dhabi Finance have merged to enhance financial literacy between secondary school and university students in Abu Dhabi.

Hope is a good thing. To be specific, UAE needs financial literacy hope. Ensuring financial literacy is every citizens’ responsibility if we are to secure a financially literate future.