barry whiteside : promoting fiji ’ s youth to “ be money wi $ e ” address by mr barry whiteside, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the “ be money wi $ e ” nasinu schools competition, nasinu financial inclusion exposition, nasinu town, 23 july 2015. * * * ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, good morning to you all and a special bula vinaka and welcome to our students and teachers who have come here today. i hope this will be a fun - filled day for all of you. i can still remember the joy i got taking time off school for special visits or other activities outside of the normal everyday curriculum. introductory comments first, let me say how delighted i am to be here with you this morning to mark the start of some very exciting and competitive events which we have planned for your benefit. all this activity is part of our “ be money wi $ e program ” organised by the reserve bank and our capital markets colleagues, to help you learn more about money matters. this event is really for you. so i must thank your principals and teachers for bringing you out here today. however, before we get into the excitement of the competitions, i would just like to share a few messages which i hope will help give you some idea in planning for a successful financial future. be money wi $ e – what the students can do for themselves at the reserve bank, we run a campaign which we call the “ be money wise program ”. it is part of the capital markets awareness platform, targeting school students. its objective is to promote the importance of acquiring good money management skills with a particular focus on understanding the concept of investing and all the various investment products available here in fiji. so girls and boys, “ be money wise ” is designed to teach you, and all the children in fiji, “ money smart ” principles. this is done through creative, fun - filled activities, some of which you will get to do over the course of today. we envision, that over time, such activities will lead to the development of a culture of financial prudence ( smartness ), preparing you well for your adult working life. relating money to future goals so let ’ s first talk about money, and how important it is in our everyday lives. many people, unfortunately, feel it is the only thing in life, while others think the opposite and feel they have no need for it at all, and many sayings

have developed around these opposing views. i feel there has to be a balance. it is clear that money does play an important role. without it, you would not be able to attend school and we would not be able to host today ’ s events for you. at this stage, it is your parents or guardians that have the responsibility to earn money for you and your family ’ s needs. while it is their responsibility at this time to earn money, you also have the responsibility to use the money that they give you wisely. within a few years, you will finish secondary bis central bankers ’ speeches school and will either need to progress further through tertiary level education or find a job, or even start up your own small business. whichever path you choose for yourself, it is never too early to start setting your goals and planning for your future.. the importance of saving savings, or setting aside a portion of your earnings for some future goal in life is a further concept that you should know about. this is an important skill that you will need and it is important that you learn to do it now whilst still at school. i encourage you and your teachers to start small savings schemes amongst yourselves and friends to help you learn the habit of saving. there is a saying by brigham young which states that … “ a fool can earn money ; but it takes a wise man to save and dispose of it to his own advantage. ” introducing the concept of the capital market another important concept that you should know about is the capital markets. when you need money, where do you go? as children, most of you would probably go to your parents. ( more than likely you would know which parent would give in to your request for a few dollars to go to the movies or just hang out at damodar city! ). as a boy i always knew which parent would accept my story, though it would have meant a few extra chores to do about the house. schools and communities that need money go to their members or the public to raise funds. people and businesses usually go to a bank to borrow when they need money. our parents and even your teachers may have taken loans to buy a house or a car. but for businesses there is an alternative place where they can go to raise funds and this place is called a capital market. capital markets are similar to the market where we go to buy food and vegetables, because this is where people gather to buy or sell things. however, instead of buying