Financial and economic literacy

The CNB is an impartial guardian of fair competition and financial market stability. Its activities to promote financial and economic literacy are targeted mainly at higher-grade primary school pupils, secondary school pupils and the general public.

The CNB’s activities are based on these premises:

  • the soundness of the economy depends on the financial health of the population
  • it has the necessary information and know-how to contribute to strengthening financial and economic literacy
  • it is important for the CNB to have informed citizens on its side → this helps it fulfil its mandate and prevent potential unfair practices in the financial market

The CNB Visitor Centre provides information on economic topics, the history of our monetary policy and central banking to school groups and the general public in its exhibitions in Prague and Brno. The Visitor Centre also organises temporary exhibitions, theme days and other accompanying programmes. Admission to all the exhibitions and events is free. For current opening hours and further information, please visit our website.

The Czech National Bank annually presents the “CNB Governor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Advancement of Financial and Economic Literacy”, which recognises, supports and promotes creators of projects that are fundamentally important for the development of financial and economic literacy in the Czech Republic. To learn more about the award or to nominate a candidate, click here (available in Czech only).

As the “guardian” of fair conditions in the financial market, the CNB aims to prevent unfair practices in the financial market and warn consumers against the unwise conclusion of contracts, whether for loans, insurance, investments, or savings. In all these activities, the CNB relies on the knowledge it gains in supervising financial market institutions’ conduct of business and their level of prudence.

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The soundness of our economy depends largely on the financial health of the population of our country. It is primarily the job of the state and its education system to make the Czech public financially and economically literate. However, the Czech National Bank contributes to this objective thanks to its independence and necessary know-how. The CNB’s projects to promote financial and economic literacy are targeted mainly at higher-grade primary school pupils, secondary school pupils and the general public. The Visitor Centre, with its wide range of exhibitions, activities and events, is the Czech National Bank’s largest project in this area.

Through a number of its activities, the CNB is involved in the implementation of the National Strategy for Financial Education (external link) and helps create financial education standards for primary and secondary schools and adults.

It also shares its experience and information in this area with other institutions such as the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, and is an active member of several international and European organisations dedicated to promoting financial and economic literacy.

The CNB has a long-standing cooperation in external activities related to the financial health of Czech citizens. This includes active participation in financial and economic literacy competitions, providing professional support, offering exceptional tours and hosting final rounds of knowledge competitions.

As part of its activities to promote financial and economic literacy, it also collaborates with non-profit organisations and initiatives dedicated to this area, including the European Financial Planning Association Czech Republic (EFPA CR), the Czech Banking Association, yourchance o.p.s, METODICA civic association, the National Institute for Further Education, the Institute of Economic Education (INEV) and ABC finančního vzdělávání.

The CNB also supports a range of other activities, such as the Czech Economic Society’s Experts to Schools project and the competition for the best essay on financial literacy for secondary school students, organised by the Department of Finance and Accounting of the Faculty of Business Administration at Silesian University in collaboration with the city of Karviná.

Among other activities and materials produced by the CNB, it is also important to mention: Educational presentations that are an ideal teaching supplement, especially for higher-grade primary school pupils and secondary school pupils; Educational videos that offer primary and secondary school teachers (and others) the opportunity to familiarise pupils and students with economics, finance and central banking through short, engaging educational videos and supplementary activities; Educational microsites created to give you an in-depth introduction to topics such as personal finance, the history of the Czech National Bank and the history of our currency.
All these materials are available in Czech, and you can find them at https://www.cnb.cz/cs/o_cnb/financni-a-ekonomicka-gramotnost/.

Additionally, the CNB co-organises regular meetings for teachers to familiarise them with current developments in financial and economic literacy.

To promote financial and economic literacy, the CNB also monitors the activities of other entities and the public in this area and regularly presents the CNB Governor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Advancement of Financial and Economic Literacy.