Filling the gaps in financial knowledge

Business

THE Bank of South Pacific banking education team has conducted financial literacy training for 35 women, organised by the Widows’ Association in Port Moresby.
The participants were vendors who depended on the income from the sale of vegetables and cooked food at the markets in Port Moresby.
They were trained in the basics of budgeting, savings and mobile money, and on banking education.
Maria Unde, president of the Widows’ Association said the information was very helpful and would make “a lot of difference to us who don’t have a regular and fixed income”.
“Sometimes, we make money, sometimes, we don’t. But, with a little savings put aside, we can take care of our needs,” she said.
Participant Patricia Sawia said she knew how to make money to support her family but needed to plan the expenses and savings better.
“The knowledge of how to make a budget and plan for expenses was a good concept to learn and understand,” she said.
Bank of South Pacific  financial literacy trainer John Gavuli said with the basic skills of budgeting and savings, “we hope that we can help these women to be able to better manage their money in future”.
“The desired outcome for the delivery of this training is to get everyone to be financially independent, to understand the basics of budgeting and saving, and to start applying these skills to their current lifestyle,” he said.
“We also have an arrangement with Bank of South Pacific  Waigani Banking Centre to assist these women to open an account like the Plus-Saver to build their savings from what they earn.”