Savings Month kicks off with a Savings Convention at Maponya Mall
Financial institutions unite in promoting the culture of saving.
The South African Savings Institute (SASI), National Treasury, Nedbank and Old Mutual launched National Savings Month with the first ever savings convention.
The launch was held at Maponya Mall on Friday morning.
It was accompanied by a two day public expo aimed at bringing financial literacy to the public.
July has been dubbed National Savings Month and is aimed at raising awareness about the importance of saving.
“The Savings Convention provides consumers with first hand guidance as a one stop platform for productive interaction between the demand and supply side of the financial sector,” said SASI chairperson Prem Govender.
Recent studies by Statistics SA revealed that this country’s population spends on average 76% percent of their monthly income on debt.
The remainder is spent on other important household necessities like food, electricity and water.
As a result of this, only a small percentage of their money goes to savings and sometimes nothing at all.
SASI hopes that Savings Month can change this trend and encourage more people to start saving more than spending.
The National Treasury was represented by Olano Makhubela who delivered the keynote address at the convention.
Makhubela emphasised the importance of saving saying, “Parents should teach their children to save from an early age.”
He called on the residents to stop spending money they don’t have and to take advantage of the tax free savings account.
“It’s time to change our spending culture in South Africa and only spend what we have so that we avoid getting in to debt,” said Makhubela.
Exhibitors in the two day expo included Nedbank, Old Mutual, 1Life, FNB, the National Stokvels Association of South Africa, National Credit Regulator, the Financial Services Board, the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa, the Aids Foundation of South Africa, Operation Hope and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Representatives from these organisations offered free financial advice to residents who visited the exhibition.
