A study of Maltese residents showed that 25% of respondents could not afford a major shock which resulted in them losing their income for a three-month period, while 38% were confident or very confident that they would enjoy a good standard of living in their retirement.However, more and more people are using tools and apps to manage their finances, up from just 29% in the previous study in 2018 to 48% in the current study, which was conducted in summer 2023. It also found that 72.9% have a savings or deposit account with 16.9% having no savings at all.These were some of the many findings of a study conducted by Marika Fsadni for ĠEMMA, the government’s financial literacy agency, based on an OECD template.Malta had already been ranked by the OECD in 2018 and again in 2023. In the latter study, Malta scored 45, compared to the 39 OECD members’ score of 39 and the overall study cohort score of 34.The event held to launch the study was also addressed by Minister for Social Policy and Children’s Rights Michael Falzon, who warned that financial literacy was even more important in hard times, giving as examples the COVID-19 pandemic and high inflation.He expressed concern that there were more people who were not planning for their retirement and said the Government needed to talk about the introduction of private pensions.FinanceMalta is one of the numerous stakeholders in a committee currently evaluating the various initiatives taken to improve financial literacy across all segments and demographic groups of society.
