THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is set to capitalize on the young demographics of the country to push for the country’s financial stability.
In the recent Financial Literacy Summit 2014 in Chicago, where BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. was one of the panel speakers, he said that the country’s young working population, or the so-called millennials, will likely push the country to greater financial and economic stability through their increased capability and fresher mind-set.
Millennials are loosely defined as those people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s.
In the discussions, Tetangco said that he remains optimistic of the financial capability of the younger population in the country, if given proper attention.
“I believe that there are certain characteristics of millennials that provide opportunity to build financial capabilities, as long as these are properly harnessed. Several studies and surveys, for instance, have surfaced the millennials greater awareness and desire for change,” Tetangco said.
Earlier this year, Citi Bank published a report that the Philippines is one of the top 5 countries in the world to experience accelerated growth owing to young self-made professionals.
The central bank chief also said that, while there is great potential for this population group in the Philippines—which is expected to hit a demographic sweet spot, or the high percentage of people in the work force in 2020—there are still gaps that must be bridged to realize this potential.
“Preliminary results of our financial capability survey, which was done together with the World Bank, showed that our younger adults struggle more than their older counterpart groups, meaning those above 35 years old, when it comes to budgeting and not overspending,” Tetangco said.
“These are areas that we need to focus on in our financial education efforts and I believe that knowing exactly where the gaps are will enable us to find targeted solutions,” he added.
As such, the BSP chief said that the data gathered in their surveys on millennials will enable them to make an effective program and education design for them, for the future of the economy.
“It is most important to gather and analyze data, given on a regular basis; policies must be data-dependent,” Tetangco said.