Financial literacy deals with knowledge and skills which allow an individual to make informed and effective decisions with regard to his financial resources. An understanding of basic financial concepts allows people to navigate in the financial system successfully. People with financial literacy training make better financial decisions than those without it.

Financial literacy involves proficiency in financial principles, financial planning, debt management, saving techniques and the time value of money. Lack of financial literacy can lead to poor financial decisions including money loss, indebtedness and other negative consequences on the financial well-being of an individual.

The concept of financial inclusion has a special significance in India because a large segment of the society, particularly low-income earners, has little access to financial services, both formal and semi-formal. Resultantly, many of them have to depend either on their own or high cost informal sources of finance such as moneylenders. The essence of financial inclusion is to ensure that a range of appropriate financial services are available to all individuals to enable them to understand and access those services.

The present volume contains 8 research papers on financial literacy and financial inclusion authored by experts in the field. These scholarly contributions provide deep insights into the various aspects and problems associated with the twin policy goals of financial literacy and financial inclusion.

Dr. Abdul Azeez N.P. is currently Assistant Professor, Department of Economics at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh. Prior to joining AMU, he taught at the Department of Economics, Central University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. He also served as Assistant Professor (Economics) in the Department of Law at AMU, Malappuram Centre, Kerala.

A gold medallist of AMU in M.A. Economics (2010) examination, he obtained Ph.D. degree also from the same University. He also qualified the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) examination conducted by University Grants Commission (UGC) in 2011. He has published 5 books and numerous research papers in reputed journals. He has participated and presented papers at various national and international conferences. Recently, he has been awarded a major research project on ‘Digital and Financial Literacy for Rural India’, funded by IMPRESS-ICSSR.

Dr. S.M. Jawed Akhtar is currently Professor, Department of Economics, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh. Presently, he is working as Finance Officer of AMU, Aligarh. He has been actively engaged in teaching and research for more than two decades. He was awarded gold medals for securing first position in B.A. (Hons.) and M.A. (Economics) examinations of the same University.