access to financing from sources that are highly costly, and almost inevitably against high collateral. very often, the practices are unfair and deceptive. examples in predatory lending are found to be unscrupulous and highly disadvantageous to the borrower. fourthly, in some asian societies, traditions continue to create cultural pressures that restrict a woman ’ s choices and liberties. though there is increased freedom for women to pursue education and careers, in some societies, cultural pressures still make it more difficult for a woman to get the exposure on financial matters. in addition, the increased incidence of divorces and single parenthood mean that more women are left to fend for themselves and their children. in certain asian societies, single women may face unusual difficulties in arranging their finances. in some cases, a woman may even have difficulty claiming her legal rights in a contract, even though the law does not dispute such a right. deeply entrenched human behaviour is not able to change as rapidly as the financial system is evolving. fifthly, statistics on life expectancy confirm that women tend to live longer. in segments of society where women earn less than men, combined with the fact that they may live longer, it is crucial to have financial acumen in order to increase the financial independence of women. this trend also magnifies the need to plan for retirement especially in an era of rising medical costs. ladies and gentlemen, enabling environment for financial literacy the promotion of greater awareness and understanding in financial issues in a dynamic and constantly changing environment has to be a continuous process. the effort needs to focus not only on providing education programmes but also on putting in place the supporting infrastructure to enhance the access to financial services, to ensure an environment of financial transparency and disclosure as well as adequate consumer protection. enhanced financial literacy is about bringing people into the financial mainstream so that they are able to make well informed decisions regarding their earnings, spending, savings and investments. the effort thus has to encompass a comprehensive set of strategies including the education process reinforced by the supporting infrastructure. the goal of any financial education programme is to increase awareness of the value of effective financial management, to show how it can contribute to financial security and improvement in the economic well - being. the most effective of programmes have been those that are targeted to specific groups. fundamental education for greater financial literacy that will have most sustainable impact are those through the school system. such educational programmes would provide the education to women from an early age. essentially, it would not result in the marginal

the pocket money book to be used in the school adoption programme was launched. the central bank of malaysia has also laid out a blueprint known as the financial sector master plan that charts the development of the malaysian financial system over a ten year period commencing in 2001. a key component of that plan is the 10 - year consumer education programme for the banking and insurance sectors. this programme is known as bankinginfo and insuranceinfo, and was launched in 2003. to reach a wide spectrum of the population, various channels are being employed to disseminate information, including through media, road shows, information brochures and a dedicated web site. there is also a dedicated outreach programme aimed at specific target groups, which includes women in rural areas, low income earners and disadvantaged women such as single mothers. to date, the bankinginfo website has received an overwhelming response - about 14 million hits and more than 2. 5 million booklets were taken up by the public. in the insurance sector, over 1. 4 million hits have been received on the insuranceinfo website, and more than 1. 3 million insurance info - booklets have been disseminated by the insurers to the public. ladies and gentlemen, similar to many other asian economies, microenterprises in malaysia are a substantial contributor to employment. women are extensively involved in microenterprises, often operated as family run businesses. to support the growth of microenterprises, dedicated agencies and funding mechanisms have been established. in order to equip the microenterprises with proper knowledge, education materials were developed on the fundamentals of starting a business, specifically addressing issues of getting access to appropriate financing within the constraints faced by microenterprises. dedicated agencies, including specialist development financial institutions, were identified to provide training and advisory services to complement these initiatives. in addition to the consumer education programmes, the central bank has put in place a consumer protection framework. in collaboration with the financial industry the central bank has established a financial mediation bureau. the financial mediation bureau aims to serve as a one - stop center for the resolution of retail consumer complaints against financial institutions regulated by the central bank. the central bank is also establishing a one - stop service centre in the bank that will function as a public information centre for the promotion of financial literacy among the malaysian public. the service centre will provide advisory services on financial matters to small and medium enterprises. ladies and gentlemen, concluding remarks financial literacy among women is all about having