this regard, the demands by customers and innovations by financial sector players as a result of being empowered through financial education drive financial sector development. this scenario clearly confirms that each one of us requires financial education. all aspects of our lives entail financial decisions and limited financial knowledge is a precursor to poor savings and investment decisions. ladies and gentlemen : fsd kenya and the central bank of kenya in conjunction with several other financial sector players have undertaken two financial access surveys ( finaccess ) in 2006 and 2009. the surveys were aimed at establishing the level of kenya ’ s population that utilises formal financial services. the two surveys established the banked population as 19 percent in 2006, it has increased to 23 percent in 2009. i am sure with financial education and more products in the market this proportion will increase. the finaccess surveys have also included questions on financial literacy and use of technology in financial transactions. following the release of the 2006 finaccess survey results, fsd kenya brought together several financial and education sector players to form the financial education partnership ( fep ) to spearhead the development of a national strategy on financial education. the efforts of the partnership are progressing well. in addition, i have been appointed as the national champion of financial education in kenya and the launch of four pilot projects to inform what modes of financial education work in kenya are important dimensions. ladies and gentlemen : the partnership ’ s quest to develop a national strategy for financial education in kenya is mainly informed by the need to protect the consumers of financial services. the best way to protect consumers is to empower them with financial knowledge which they can use to demand quality services at fair prices. as the financial education strategy is being developed, the government through the ministries of finance and trade are spearheading efforts towards coming up with a comprehensive financial services consumer protection law. however, the law alone will not be enough, since for consumers to take advantage of it they must be enlightened on their rights and obligations regarding financial transactions. ladies and gentlemen : let me now share with you the aspirations of the central bank of kenya ( cbk ) as regards financial education. other than its participation in the partnership, the core mandates of the bank, which are price and financial stability, demand that we explain to the public all that we do to achieve these mandates. in this regard, cbk takes up available opportunities to disseminate financial knowledge to the public. in particular, the success of the new developments in our banking

network from cbk and will in due course be rolling out the model. finally, let me reiterate that the central bank will continue to facilitate an environment that allows for a diverse range of financial service providers to thrive and compete in the kenyan market. specifically, the central bank remains committed to working with the relevant stakeholders to create an enabling environment for the mortgage sector to play its rightful role in achieving the aspirations of the country ’ s blueprint, the vision 2030, which includes providing the country ’ s population with adequate and decent housing in a sustainable environment. further, it will pursue better regulation as opposed to more regulation so as to create room for more innovations by financial institutions and also be ready with effective tools to deal with any system vulnerabilities and emerging risks. we are happy and proud to be associated closely with the developments housing finance has introduced and the growth success they have achieved so far. with these few remarks ladies and gentlemen, it is now my honour and privilege to declare the housing finance current account officially launched and we look forward to seeing better results and innovations from them in the market place with increased capacity and financial strength due to this launch. thank you bis central bankers ’ speeches