The NBS Foundation will support financial education and economic and financial research. It has announced its first two grant calls.
Národná banka Slovenska (NBS), like other central banks, has the ‘job’ of safeguarding price stability. But our ambition is to go further. We have established the NBS Foundation because we want to provide help where and how we can – in areas in which we excel. The aim is to pass on our expertise, knowledge and experience. As practice and data have shown us, this is something Slovakia needs.
„We want to do things that are meaningful. That’s why we are setting up the Foundation, the Bank’s extended arm in the areas of education, financial literacy development, and R&D support. I believe that by combining all our strengths and common sense, we will take financial literacy in Slovakia to a higher level.“Peter Kažimír
NBS Governor
The context:
- We believe that people who manage their money well are better off and, conversely, that those who do not have a firm grip on their finances are comparatively far worse off in terms of quality of life.
- In general, R&D in Slovakia lags behind the EU average, and the situation is even worse in the field of economics. We therefore want to help our leading institutions and scientists bridge the gap.
„Quality data, innovative approaches to education and research, international connections: these are the areas of education and science in which Slovakia is lagging behind. The central bank, for its part, does not want to stand idly by. Within the scope of our mandate and financial capacity, we will open up new opportunities for the development of education and research in the fields of economics, finance, and financial literacy.“Michal Horváth
Chair of the Board of Trustees of the NBS Foundation
What do we excel in?
Supporting financial education and financial literacy. The decisions you take in life directly depend on the knowledge and information you possess. This is much more the case when it comes to decisions about personal investments, household budgets, and borrowing.
„We are reaching out to vulnerable groups of citizens, schools and pensioners, as well as to established institutions advancing long-standing efforts. Our hope is that by being able to lean on the steady shoulder of an experienced, professional and perceptive partner in financial matters, they will gain the energy and appetite to pursue new approaches and take bold steps. We want to be there where they need us.“Jana Kováčová
Managing Director of the NBS Foundation
One of the aims of the NBS Foundation is to support scientific talent and research in Slovakia, which is lagging behind in many areas, especially economic science. In the chart below, for example, we see that in Slovakia, compared with western European countries, there is little research output of any relevance (source: the Institute for Democracy and Economic Analysis of the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences).
Nor is the situation much better in comparison with other post-communist countries:
A few more details about the NBS Foundation:
- Registration date: February 2022
- Registered office address: at the NBS headquarters
- Managing Director: Jana Kováčová, Head of the NBS Communications Section
- Chair of the Board of Trustees: Michal Horváth, NBS Chief Economist
- Supervisory Board members: Jozef Makúch, Karol Mrva, Lucia Žitňanská
- Website: www.nadacianbs.sk
- Grants in 2022: the foundation plans to announce five grant calls
- Funds available for grants in 2022: €250,000
The NBS Foundation has so far announced grant calls for the following two projects:
- Supporting innovative financial education for seniors and other vulnerable groups
- Measuring the financial literacy level among the adult population
For more information, please visit the NBS Foundation website:
National Bank of Slovakia
Communications Section
Imricha Karvaša 1, 813 25 Bratislava
Contact: press@nbs.sk
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