Key Points
- Financial literacy drive to span Pakistan
- Free online courses and certifications planned
- IFMP to spearhead capital market training
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s financial regulator has unveiled an ambitious plan to expand the country’s retail investor base fivefold to 2.5 million as part of broader efforts to deepen capital markets and improve financial inclusion in the South Asian economy.
The initiative will be led by the Institute of Financial Markets of Pakistan (IFMP). The corporate watchdog has tasked the institute with rolling out a nationwide financial literacy programme.
It would target schools, universities and professional communities, according to decisions taken at the institute’s board meeting on Friday.
Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), was elected chairperson of the IFMP Board. He said financial education would be critical to achieving the regulator’s goal of increasing the number of capital market investors from about 500,000 to 2.5 million.
Pakistan: two-thirds of youth are of working age
Pakistan’s youthful population—around two-thirds of whom are under the age of 30—offers significant potential to expand financial inclusion, retail investment, entrepreneurship and employment. It, however, requires that people be equipped with the knowledge and skills to participate in formal financial markets.
The IFMP plans to introduce free online financial literacy courses, continuing professional development programmes, and certification courses for capital market and insurance intermediaries. It would also offer specialised industry training to strengthen the country’s financial services workforce.
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Muhammad Ali Farid Khawaja, Commissioner of SECP’s Securities Market Division and a newly appointed IFMP board member, said the Pakistan Stock Exchange should broaden its reach beyond its traditional investor base. He observed that a growing number of new investors are emerging from Punjab and other regions.
The IFMP board also approved relocating the institute’s headquarters to Islamabad while retaining a regional office in Karachi as part of the organisational restructuring to support its expanded national mandate.
