Despite these strong results, there is a notable need for enhanced financial education.Continue reading
The financial situation of Hungarians has improved compared to the previous year in several respects: the number of those who have some money left at the end of the month has increased, and there are fewer people who have no savings at all. At the same time, a growing number of people feel confident in their finances, shows a recent survey by financial services provider Provident.
The representative survey, conducted in June this year, found that 23.5 percent of Hungarians now have more or less money left in their pockets at the end of the month, compared to 19.7 percent a year earlier. One in three Hungarians were able to put some money aside each month, down 0.2 percent compared to the previous year. Almost 11 percent put aside a predetermined amount, while 22.1 percent have a variable amount of money to save.
The analysts also found that 53.4 percent of respondents had not taken out a loan in the past year. This is 2.3 percentage points lower than a year earlier, that can be explained by the fact that more people were able to save.
In the survey, just over half of middle-aged people and almost two-thirds of older people said they would not borrow if they could. Of those who did borrow, most (32.8 percent) turned to their family for help, with the highest proportion going to their parents. 13.8 percent used loans from financial institutions, 1.6 percent more than a year earlier.
The survey found that 52.3 percent of respondents feel confident in their knowledge of financial products.
However, 46 percent of respondents felt uncomfortable in this area, a slight improvement on last year, when 50.1 per cent felt confident and 47.6 percent were unsure.
The 18-34 age group has the highest number of people who are financially confident (54.4 percent) and the 55+ age group the lowest (47.4 percent). 61.3 percent of those living in a large city felt they had adequate knowledge about financial services, but this figure was only 41.8 percent in small towns.
The company’s press release quoted Viktor Boczán, CEO of Provident, as saying that despite challenging economic conditions, more and more people are able to save regularly and those who decide to take out a loan are more confident and knowledgeable.
Via MTI, Featured image: Pexels