Nthatuoa Koeshe
THE Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) this week launched the ninth annual Money Month Campaign under the theme “take care of yourself, take care of your money”.
Running from 19 April to 7 May 2021, the Money Month Campaign is an annual public awareness campaign designed to empower the public with the necessary skills to manage their personal financial resources effectively.
CBL Governor Retšilisitsoe Matlanyane told guests at the launch that money month is targeted at generating, giving and getting information about Lesotho’s financial system.
She said it is meant to create public awareness on the basic concepts and basics of engaging in financial contracts.
“By this, money month is meant to skill all the users of financial products so that they enter into contracts confidently with knowledge of what they are getting into,” Dr Matlanyane said.
She it was particularly important for the youth so that they can understand their responsibilities as consumers and those of providers of products and services.
With the technological advancements coming by the day, it is imperative for the public to know the financial services that they can access safely electronically especially in the face of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The money month should therefore, disseminate information about safety and warn the public about online fraud, which regulators worldwide continue grappling with.
“Covid-19 has increased the vulnerability of different sections of the population and has deepened poverty and increased the number of vulnerable groups such as women and children especially in the rural areas,” she said.
For his part, Banking Association of Lesotho (BAL) chairperson and Lesotho PostBank (LPB) managing director, Molefi Leqhaoe, said their mandate was to ensure that they fuel the economy through helping their clients access finance.
“We must ensure that our customers access finance but the finance should be safe.
“We must ensure that our customers know their rights when they come to the banks and we are aware that at the moment, the CBL has a department that takes care of the rights of our customers,” Mr Leqhaoe said.
He said the BAL was aware that the Covid-19 pandemic which has necessitated movement of clients to digital services. He however, added that banks had a responsibility to protect clients and ensure that they transact safely.
“We advise our clients to seek assistance from banking staff and not from strangers.”
Mokhapheka Lazaro, a representative of the Insurers Association of Lesotho said they were excited about the launch of the money month.
Like other economic players affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, insurance companies are still researching the best was of addressing the current challenges that they are facing.
“As the insurance industry, we are trying to find solutions that are relevant to our economy going forward and how best we can encourage our entities and individuals to start getting more into investing and savings.”
Mr Lazaro said they are engaged in ongoing discussions with their counterparts in the banking sector to widen the pool of people eligible for loans.
