The BCRA Promotes Financial Education in Neuquén

Miguel Pesce, President of the BCRA, and Omar Gutiérrez, Governor of the province of Neuquén, signed today an agreement for cooperation in financial education. It seeks to boost users’ skills, encouraging them to make informed decisions, and strengthen the financial inclusion of the most vulnerable sectors.

This agreement is part of the BCRA’s federal educational programs. The objective is to extend financial education across the country. So far in 2021, the BCRA signed agreements with the provinces of Santa Fe and San Juan. In 2020, the BCRA trained teachers from Catamarca, San Luis, and Neuquén.“Today we are taking another step forward in support of financial inclusion and education,” said Pesce. “It is important to turn a high level of financial coverage—91% of adults with at least one bank account—into a higher use of, and adjustment to, the new digital channels of payment,” he added. “We are experiencing a global shift in payment systems towards electronic channels, leaving aside the use of cash. This change certainly demands education,” he asserted and concluded: “We will strive for training teachers so that they deliver financial education to young people and children, and indirectly to their families.”

In turn, Gutiérrez thanked and congratulated the BCRA authorities for the execution of this agreement in line with the development of a federal country. “Financial education training aimed at young people and adults, focused on the most vulnerable sectors, means to look ahead,” he said and added: “We must face the challenge of bridging the digital gap to build social justice.”

Miguel Pesce, President of the BCRA; Sergio Woyecheszen, Vice President of the BCRA; and Daniela Bossio, Financial Regulations Deputy General Manager attended the virtual meeting. Gutiérrez, Governor of Neuquén; Cristina Storioni, Minister of Education; Guillermo Pons, Minister of Economy and Infrastructure; and Alejandro Visentín, President of Banco de la Provincia de Neuquén, were also present.

Agreement with Neuquén

Between 2018 and 2019, the province of Neuquén ran face-to-face courses for 217 teachers who, in turn, trained more than 1,500 students. In 2020, training courses were given online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the attendance of 128 teachers and 716 students.

The Agreement signed with the province of Neuquén will last for three years and establishes, among other matters, joint courses of action:

-Designing, fostering, and assessing actions addressed to students of different educational levels.

- Promoting training programs for teachers, both online and face-to-face.

-Executing educational actions aimed at people from vulnerable groups in society, such as the retired and pensioners, social security beneficiaries, and informal workers.

BCRA’s Financial Education Programs

In 2020, the BCRA made courses available online for 567 teachers (from the provinces of Catamarca, San Luis, and Neuquén), who worked in classrooms with 5,965 students from 166 schools (51 of which are rural schools). Students carried out activities with the aim of sharing the knowledge and skills so acquired with their community (family, senior citizens, neighbors, among others). These programs focused on the comparison and choice of financial products, saving and investment strategies, use of electronic means of payments and electronic channels for different transactions, and credit instruments, just to mention a few.

May 18, 2021.