Banco de Portugal (BP) and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) are holding their first training together from 19-23 February, 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. The five-day member training, Programme Training Personal Financial Management Trainers (PTPFMT), is held with support from Banco Central do Brasil (BCB), an active member of the AFI network since September 2010.

In July 2017, AFI signed the Protocol of Technical Cooperation in the field of Financial Inclusion and Education with the Central Banks of Portuguese speaking countries (Bancos Centrais de Países de Língua Portuguesa-BCPLP). The BCPLPs recognize the importance of financial inclusion and consumer education to the economic development, and stability of financial systems in a country. The PTPFMT member training is the first initiative under this agreement.

“Financial inclusion is one of the dimensions of social inclusion and therefore, an inclusive economic development factor,” Luis Máximo dos Santos, Deputy Governor of Banco de Portugal said as he welcomed participants during the opening session.

He underlined the great value of knowledge sharing among the central banks of Lusophone countries, as it offers diversified approaches and an opportunity to reflect how they can be adapted to each national context. “We are all in a better position to make the right choices in the implementation of inclusion and financial education policies,” dos Santos said. 

“For Banco de Portugal, this training is an opportunity to collaborate with AFI and contribute to the sharing of knowledge and best international practices to advance financial inclusion and education,” Deputy Governor of Banco de Portugal said adding that having trainers from two central banks (Portugal and Brazil) promotes diversity while offering different approaches to variety of themes covered in the course.

“The cultural proximity and, especially, the Portuguese language make the exchange of financial education technologies and products essential among Portuguese-speaking countries,” said Fábio de Almeida Lopes Araujo, Specialist in Financial Education of the Department of Promotion of Financial Citizenship of the Central Bank of Brazil in his opening remarks.

Lessons learned from this course can accelerate local processes of building and developing National Financial Education Strategies, Lopes Araujo explained while highlighting the role of AFI in organizing and providing the sponsorship for this course.

“Programs and international exchange such as this one provide concrete opportunities for designing public policies for financial education that actually improve the quality of life of the population,” he said.

“The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Brazil considers this event to be a priority,” the Official of the Central Bank of Brazil emphasized.

Carlos Alberto Moya Franco, AFI Regional Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean expressed AFI’s appreciation that the BCPLPs recognize the importance of financial inclusion and consumer education to the economic development and the stability of financial systems in their countries. 

The five-day classroom training is tailored for Personal Financial Management trainers, with intense hands-on activities during the training. The training will then be replicated by participating institutions in their own jurisdictions. The modules that are covered in the training are:

• Our relationship with money

• Personal or family budget

• Credit and indebtedness

• Conscious and planned consumption

• Savings and investment

• Prevention and protection

• Contracting financial services

BCB developed the PTPFMT in 2012 with the aim to promote the rights and duties of citizens in relation to their financial life. The program has run successfully since then. BCB offered to train selected staff of BCPLPs on PTPFMT with the aim that its lessons will be replicated in their jurisdictions.