BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

THE Council of Women of Brunei Darussalam (CWBD) will be holding a Financial Literacy/Islamic Financial Literacy Workshop to disseminate knowledge on financial planning and saving to members of the public.

Datin Hjh Masni Hj Mohd Ali, Vice President I of CWBD and chairperson of the event said that the council supports the financial literacy strategy to curb the risks of falling into debt and poverty.

She said that this is in line with the sabda delivered by His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, during the launching ceremony of the first Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) Day last week.

“The aspiration needs teamwork from relevant financial sectors and also from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the CWBD, uniting 13 associations with a total of 13,000 members,” said Datin Hjh Masni during a press conference with the local media at the Park View Hotel, Jerudong yesterday.

“Financial literacy has been identified as one effective way to tackle poverty issues and indirectly promote economic development,” she added.

She said the council is concerned on the results of a recent study conducted by AMBD in cooperation with the Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies (CSPS) on 1,521 households.

Results of the study state that 34 per cent did not have plans for household expenditures, 49 per cent did not have active savings, 24 per cent needed loans to fund their daily necessities while 32 per cent did not know the interest rate imposed on them on their respective outstanding credit cards.

Reiterating the sabda, Datin Hjh Masni said, “As a society who are financially inclusive, we should stop depending on the government especially in generating employment, saving for our children’s education, insurance penetration and quality of life.”

She added, “CWBD feels that by organising this workshop we will not only gain knowledge on Financial Literacy but on Islamic Financial Literacy as well.

“As Muslims we must know about Syariah Compliance products. We need to know what riba (a concept in Islamic banking that refers to charged interest) is, how to count Zakat (obligatory payment made annually under Islamic law used for charitable and religious purposes) and so on.”

The workshop will feature three categories: category A for senior citizens and adults. Category B for unemployed youths and students, and category C for children ages 9 to 12.

“Children are also invited to participate in this workshop to discipline and teach them on the values of saving, sensible spending, strengthen the culture of saving from a young age and show the efforts of earning a living,” said Datin Hjh Masni.

She said that parents play an important role in fostering the habit of saving to their children from an early age, become examples and explain the importance of saving money.

“The CWBD fund will also be providing six lucky draws for the children. They will stand a chance to win cash and open up a bank account with Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD),” Datin Hjh Masni said.

“They won’t be able to withdraw the money until after a year. This is to teach the children the importance of saving,” she added.

Various local speakers will deliver several topics during the workshop.

The workshop will also feature an international speaker Dr Muhamed Zulkhibri, Senior Economist, Institut Penyelidikan dan Latihan Islam (IRTI), Bank Pembangunan Islam (IDB), Jeddah.

The workshop is jointly organised by BIBD and will take place on June 5 at the Park View Hotel in Jerudong from 8am to 11.30am and 2pm to 5pm.

Registration will close on June 3.

The workshop is also held to commemorate this year’s National Family Day and to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the CWBD.

The Brunei Times