FINANCIAL LITERACY IN ROMANIA: A TEST OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS STUDENTS

Romania is in a rather dishonorable position from the financial literacy perspective in the European Union, ranking last among countries. To increase the level of financial education of the Romanian population, public and private institutions, organizations, and companies have recently taken the initiative in this field, mostly after 2015. Our contribution builds on these recent developments and aims at testing the level of basic financial literacy of Romanian university students, enrolled in business and economics studies, using the OECD Financial literacy test. Data was collected through an online survey on a voluntary basis, and the responses were analyzed using statistical indicators. Results indicate a rather high level of financial literacy among students, but also significant differences among respondents that may be explained by several demographic characteristics and specific attributes. The most important characteristics that influence the degree of financial literacy of students are age, students' cycle of studies, the way the students live, property ownership and students' involvement in financial market transactions and contracts. We stress towards the need to act through concrete measures to improve young people financial literacy, as a necessary condition to navigate in an increasingly complex environment, where finance plays an essential role.