ewart s williams : financial literacy in barbados remarks by mr ewart s williams, governor of the central bank of trinidad and tobago, at the national financial literacy programme booklet launch, port - of - spain, 27 october 2009. * * * on january 30, 2010 the national financial literacy programme will be officially three years old. there is no doubt that we have come a long way over 36 short months. we had a tentative beginning because financial literacy in the caribbean was largely uncharted territory. however, if it is true that imitation is the greatest form of flattery, we should indeed be delighted since our lead has now been adopted throughout the region. sometime last week jamaica launched a nationwide financial literacy programme. also, and very significantly, the imf, through its regional training agency ( cartac ) has begun to market financial literacy throughout the region. particularly, following the recent global financial crisis, it is being increasingly acknowledged that financial literacy can play a critical role in economic management both in advanced and in developing countries. teaching people how to save, spend, invest, borrow and manage their finances wisely, improves an individual financial well - being and quality of life. financially secure families are better able to contribute to the economic and social development of their communities. in the three years of its existence our national financial literacy programme has made impressive strides. our schools ’ programme has led the way. as at the end of the 2009 school year our primary schools programme had been conducted in 485 schools reaching 29, 600 students. judging from the responses of the children as well as their parents and the principals, the programme has shown instant benefits. parents of kids who participated in the programme indicated in a questionnaire that their children were more mindful of how they spent their allowance but also of the manner in which the household budget was utilized. our secondary schools programme is now to be incorporated into the schools ’ curriculum, thanks to the support of the ministry of education. we are particularly grateful to the one hundred and twenty - three ( 123 ) teachers who gave up two weeks of their summer vacation to attend training sessions organized by the central bank. from the inception of the programme, the push for linking financial literacy and small business development came from the office of finance and enterprise development, in the tobago house of assembly which had an active small business development programme. further, impetus to the linkage was provided by the rapid increase in small business activity throughout the country and the obvious gaps in basic business information available to aspiring

gentlemen, the challenges facing caribbean countries demand innovative economic solutions in the new global environment. i give you the assurance of the central bank ’ s continued support for this conference and for the wider work of the uwi, st. augustine. i look forward to this 5th bbf conference generating fruitful discussions, stimulating new thoughts and ideas on re - igniting growth in the caribbean. as the 1992 report of the west indian commission exhorted some twenty years ago “ the time for action is now ”. i thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches