This year, the budget for financial education of the Financial Supervisory Service has been found to have decreased compared to the previous year.
According to the '2025 fiscal year budget' materials submitted by the Financial Supervisory Service to Democratic Party lawmaker Oh Gi-hyeong on the 7th, this year's budget for 'financial education' is 1.379 billion won, down 5% from the previous year (1.45 billion won). This contrasts with a 31% increase in the total business budget of 56.88 billion won from the previous year, with all other project budgets, except for financial education, having increased. The budgets for 'information technology projects' and 'international cooperation' are 34.09 billion won and 980 million won, respectively, increasing by 50% and 32% compared to last year.
This year, the budget of the FSS is focused on securing personnel costs in response to the increasing demand for supervision and inspection. This year, the reserve fund for new personnel hiring has been significantly increased to more than double. The reserve fund for 'staff expansion,' which was around 1.6 billion won last year, surged by 116% to 3.55 billion won. The FSS plans to add 30 personnel in electronic finance and digital sectors this year. An emergency reserve fund of 2 billion won has also been newly established. After the early depletion controversy regarding overtime pay last September, this emergency reserve was allocated to prevent such issues from arising this year.
Despite the growing importance of financial education, there are concerns that the budget supporting it is being overshadowed by other projects. The Financial Supervisory Service's financial education budget has been steadily increasing since 2018 but decreased for the first time this year. The financial education budget has risen by 58% in six years, from 918 million won in 2018 to 1.45 billion won last year.
The purpose of financial education is to prevent criminal damage from financial fraud and illegal private financing, such as voice phishing, and to enhance understanding of finance to help individuals accumulate assets. Through this, the government's goal is to also resolve social issues like elderly poverty and economic inequality.
However, the financial literacy of the South Korean population remains at a low level. Although it is showing an upward trend compared to the past, the polarization across age, income, and education levels is intensifying. According to the '2022 National Financial Literacy Survey' released by the FSS and the Bank of Korea last year, South Korean adults (ages 18-79) scored 66.5 points in financial literacy. The 2018 Global Financial Literacy Survey (S&P) recorded South Korea's financial illiteracy rate at 67%. The gap in financial literacy was widest between those with a college degree or higher (68.7 points) and those with less than a high school diploma (59.3 points).
Financial education aimed at improving financial literacy is the responsibility of the FSS and the Bank of Korea. The FSS currently operates various financial education programs tailored to different life stages, such as 'one company, one school financial education,' 'FSS Children's Financial School,' 'practical finance for universities,' and 'digital education for the elderly.' It is also creating and providing various educational content through the integrated financial education platform 'e-Financial Education Center.' This year, the FSS will also handle the development and distribution of educational content such as course models and teaching materials for the newly established elective subject 'Finance and Economic Life' in the high school curriculum and train instructors.