The issue of financial illiteracy is a problem that we have to face as a society, President of the Cyprus Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, said on Thursday, noting that in 2024 a series of activities are planned to tackle this phenomenon, together with the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance.

Speaking at the Presidential Palace, where he received the annual report of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) for 2022 by its President Dr. George Theocharides and Vice President George Karatzias, President Christodoulides said, inter alia, that "your role is crucial" noting that it is something to which the Government pays particular attention and it is in this context that the position on the need for a single supervisory mechanism in Cyprus is being promoted.

He pointed out that 2024 will be crucial for the "rebranding of our country", stressing the importance of Cyprus' credibility abroad. 

President Christodoulides said that the issue of financial illiteracy is a problem that we have to face as a society, noting that "in 2024 we are planning, together with the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance, a series of actions, in which I myself will participate. We will also host some activities here at the Presidential Palace, in order to gradually strengthen the literacy regarding financial data management. We need to start from high school, because we need to build on that through education."

Handing over the report, Theocharides, said, among other things, that "there is a steady rise and evolution of the investment companies sector, the investment funds sector, and with this rise there are also various challenges."

He added that one of the challenges relates to technology and the issue of technological tools to enable CySEC to supervise the institutions effectively.

"The main pillar is always the protection of investors, but at the same time we always support to have a healthy development of the financial services sector," he said. 

Theocharides also mentioned that "our country ranks first in Europe, according to the latest data from the European Securities and Markets Authority, when it comes to the sector of investment companies and the cross-border investment services."

Finally, Theocharides said that CySEC pays particular importance to the issue of financial illiteracy.