NAIROBI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Kenya plans to roll out an investor education campaign to boost the country's national savings rates, the capital markets regulator said on Friday.
Capital Market Authority (CMA) CEO Paul Muthaura told a media briefing in Nairobi that the campaign will target investors, potential issuers of securities as well as market intermediaries.
"Our aim is to ensure that capital markets become a tool of increasing Kenya's national savings rate from the current level of 17 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to the desired level of 30 percent," Muthaura said during a meeting on the preparations to participate in the World Investor Week.
Kenya plans to join the rest of the world in celebrating the World Investor Week from Oct. 2 to 8 as one of the key initiatives of its investor education and public awareness strategy.
Muthaura said that investor education is critical as it also addresses the issue of financial exclusion and can be the best defense against market volatility and fraud.
He noted that financial literacy will also help to break the current cycle of consumerism that results in low savings rate.
The CEO remarked that the capital markets are the best source of long-term finance required to fund infrastructure projects.
The CMA also plans to introduce regulatory framework that will encourage the development of products that target low-income savers.
"We hope to tap into innovative technologies such as mobile platforms in order to increase mobilization of savings by the capital markets," he added.
