Two in three adults worldwide are financially illiterate, according to research on personal finance by financial services company Standard & Poor’s.

“When people do not understand serious cost issues and cannot make decisions about their lives in areas such as housing, education and their personal budget, they are excluded from the very economic system in which they live,” the researchers concluded after surveying 148 countries.

Because of the importance of the subject, the Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM) has organised a seminar on the subject ‘Are we ultimately financially illiterate? The role of education’ which will take place on Saturday, March 5 in Nicosia.

“One of the illusions that we as a society and state had was that we were financially literate and more or less knew how to manage our finances: how much to spend, how much and where to invest, how much and for what purpose to borrow,” said the institute in a press release. “We thought we knew how to calculate the costs, benefits and risks of our choices. However, as the crisis revealed, we overspent, borrowed too much and invested in securities and shares without realising the risks. So we became victims of unscrupulous individuals and speculators. It is essential to increase our financial literacy in the post-crisis era to avoid repeating mistakes.”

The seminar, which is open to the public, will take place on March 5 from 9am until 1pm at the premises of the CIIM in Nicosia (next to KEMA, Aglantzia). Entrance is free.

It is held under the auspices of Education Minister Costas Kadis and the main sponsor is Deloitte.

Speakers at the conference are Theodoros Panayiotou, Director of CIIM, MP and economist Marios Mavridis, former general manager of the Coop Central Bank Marios Clerides, and Michael Pantazis, head of correspondent banking at USB.

For more information contact 99-439365, 99585075 or jojan@cytanet.com.cy