ABSTRACT
There is an international movement to foster financial literacy which aims at creating new financial citizens. This involves a reformulation of what is required to be an effective citizen. The financial citizen should have the skills to survive in a sophisticated financial world and to participate within a new polity informed by their market participation. For individuals, financial literacy is essential to ensure they are not excluded from economic participation and ultimately for effective political participation. The financial literacy project is pursued through concepts of choice and responsibility,2 the regulatory approach of mandated information disclosure3 and with education.4 At one level, financial literacy is concerned with simple budgeting, avoiding excessive debt and managing credit. At another, it involves education in the ways of the financial market and market risk. It is a strategy to mobilize further resources for an efficient market and ultimately it links market and political participation.
