Impact of Counseling on Knowledge, Feelings and Actions of Over-Indebted Borrowersin Tajikistan

World Bank Group

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: indebtedness;    financial literacy;    financial counseling;    household financial planning;   

RP-ID  :  109531

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

A growing body of empirical work suggests that personalized, just-in-time consultation aboutfinancial decision-making, with an emphasis on goal-setting, may be more effective to bringabout improvements in financial consumer behavior than generalized, classroom-styleeducation. With this in mind, IFC piloted campaigns to provide free, neutral, confidential financialcounseling services to consumers in Tajikistan in early 2016, attracting about five thousandparticipants. Consultations included identification of personal financial goals, mapping out of majorupcoming expenses and income, identification of risks, and opportunities for savings. In order toassess the impact of counseling campaigns on consumers’ knowledge about their financial standing,feelings of readiness and capability to make good decisions, and actions to better balance incomeand expenses, maintain a household budget, IFC carried out an impact assessment of participantsand control groups from two of the cities, Kurgantiube and Kulyab, at 0-, 3- and 6-months from thetime of the counseling campaigns. The results provide valuable insights into the ways thatcounseling can drive financial consumers to change their behavior.