Every year, under the coordination of the International Network on Financial Education (OECD-INFE), Global Money Week takes place, which is a worldwide celebration of money aimed at raising the awareness of the young generation to be responsible and financially capable future citizens.

In this context, the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Gent Sejko, participated on Friday in the activity organized by the Minister of State for Youth and Children, to discuss the panel on the topic "How to protect people's money and their future financial", together with the Minister of Finance, Ervin Mete and the Chairman of the Economy and Finance Commission, Eduard Shalsi.

During his speech, Governor Sejko said that all modern central banks pay special attention and resources to the financial and economic education of the public. This phenomenon has intensified and taken a full form especially in the period after the financial crisis, mainly because the financial authorities understood the importance of operating in an environment with a well-informed public.

The governor emphasized that a public equipped with financial culture has more opportunities to understand the financial world full of innovations that surround it, as well as the function and complex decisions of the central bank. With these principles in focus, for nearly 20 years, the Bank of Albania has been engaged in expanding and deepening the financial culture of the public in the country, especially of the young generation.

Governor Sejko stated that in January 2024, the Bank of Albania's Strategy for Education and Financial Inclusion was approved - the first institutional document that promotes financial education, promoting inclusion, well-being, and financial stability. Its mission is to ensure that individuals in Albania acquire the knowledge, master the skills, maintain the attitudes, and develop the appropriate, correct, and applicable behaviors that enable them to make well-informed financial decisions, with the ultimate goal of improving well-being and their financial stability.

Another very important step is law 100/2023 "On the account of payments with basic services", which comes as a commitment of the Bank of Albania to promoting the financial inclusion of the population and the modernization of the payment system, and aims to increase the number of payment bank accounts, by bringing closer to the banking system the layers of consumers who do not currently have bank accounts, as well as encouraging the more active use of existing payment accounts for that group of consumers who, although they have an account, use it minimally.

In the following, the Governor appreciated the very good cooperation with partners such as the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and Sports, the Albanian Association of Banks, the Deposit Insurance Agency, the World Bank, etc. for the continuous development of joint programs throughout the country, to increase financial culture.

Finally, the Governor emphasized that the special educational activities and publications prepared by the Bank of Albania in this regard, have three main objectives: presentation of the role and functions of the central bank to the public; cultivating and strengthening a financial culture in Albanian society; as well as promoting financial inclusion.