Barnabás Virág, vice-governor of the Central Bank of Hungary (MNB), emphasized in his opening speech that the development of financial and entrepreneurial culture is a strategic goal.
According to research, the financial awareness of young people, who also had financial goals, has improved significantly: from 42% in 2018 to 78% in 2022. He called the strengthening of young people's financial literacy a priority.

Source: MTI

This year, more than 20 staff members of the central bank joined the anniversary programme as volunteers, in line with tradition.
Financial thinking plays a key role in successful economic catching-up, and the country has made significant progress in this area: since 2010, the net financial wealth of Hungarian households has quadrupled from HUF 20 thousand billion, he said.

Zoltán Maruzsa, State Secretary for Education at the project's host organisation, the Ministry of the Interior, said that "Hungarian students ranked 4th out of 39 participating countries in financial literacy according to the latest OECD survey." The results show that targeted financial education brings good results, and the series of programmes will be continued to develop informed financial decision-making.

Source: MTI

While results are improving, there is still a need for conscious and targeted financial education to achieve similar results in the practical application of knowledge," he said.

He said that while in 2015, 660 schools participated in the programme, this year around 200,000 students from 1,270 schools are participating, which shows the success of the programme. Finance Minister Mihály Varga stressed that there is no competitiveness without financial awareness.

He added: "Children are experiencing how to deal with finances at a younger and younger age, for example, one in 30 pupils in a secondary school class he was lecturing in had no bank account." He called it a major achievement of the government that, in addition to the public debt, attention was also paid to tackling family indebtedness, setting an example to society. He said that the problems of mortgage-based foreign currency lending were instructive and stressed that Hungary must not find itself in a similar situation ever again. Anikó Túri, State Secretary for Public Administration at the Ministry of National Economy (NGM), said that the programme series year after year conveys an important message to students, which also contributes to the development of entrepreneurial awareness.

Reaching students is important for making informed financial decisions, but it is also important to reach families. "They strive to ensure that students learn financial literacy through good examples and enjoyment," he said.

Eszter Hergár, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Money Compass Foundation, said that "the contact card payment transaction made at the opening symbolically launched the international PÉNZ7 in Hungary, the first among the participating countries."

The Hungarian PÉNZ7 joined the Global Money Week events in 2017 at the initiative of the Money Compass Foundation, and since then it has received several awards, and the OECD has invited Hungary to present its good practices and knowhow internationally.

The Ministry of the Interior is participating in the series of events as a project sponsor, while the Ministry of National Economy, the Ministry of Finance, the Hungarian Banking Association, the Money Compass Foundation and the Junior Achievement Hungary Foundation are also involved.
At the opening ceremony, awards were presented to the volunteers involved in the programme, including Mihály Varga, the Minister of Finance, as well as to educational experts and institutions.

According to a statement by the Money Compass Foundation on Tuesday afternoon, the Secretary General of the OECD sent a video message of greetings to the Hungarian PÉNZ7. Mathias Cormann highlighted Hungary's commitment to developing financial awareness and knowledge among young people, they wrote.

The PENZ7 programme also supports the implementation of the objectives of the National Strategy for Financial Awareness adopted by the Government in 2017 and the SME Strategy 2019-2030 (Strategy for the Strengthening of Hungarian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises).

The detailed programme for the week is available at www.penz7.hu.

Source: MTI