Indonesian government educational initiatives to enhance financial literacy: Approaches, digital applications and future policy recommendations

Abstract

The Indonesian government has prioritized the improvement of public financial literacy amid the ongoing expansion of the financial sector. The 2025 national poll reveals a little increase relative to the previous year. Despite this progress, significant shortcomings remain, allowing illegal financial transactions to continue posing substantial risks to the public. This study aims to identify government-sponsored financial education programs and evaluate the effectiveness of various strategies in improving public financial literacy awareness. A systematic evaluation employing the PRISMA 2020 approach was performed to evaluate the educational programs enacted by the Indonesian government. Initially, 100 materials, including journal articles, working papers, research publications, e-magazines, and statistics records from 2015 to 2025, were sourced from OJK's website. The final inclusion consisted of 17 documents identified as the data sources for analysis. The documents pertinent to this study are exclusively accessible within the two-year period from 2024 to 2025. The findings indicate that the Indonesian government has executed 46,766 educational initiatives to improve public financial literacy awareness. Socialization is the most frequently implemented educational activity among the initiatives, carried out through both offline and online mediums. The distribution through digital media indicates a significant amount of published content, amounting to 50,415. Instagram emerged as the most effective channel, despite having less publications than other platforms. Ultimately, despite the growing array of educational activities, it is advisable for the government to broaden and vary its educational program techniques to enhance the overall effectiveness of financial literacy initiatives. These studies provide evidence-based recommendations to improve Indonesia's state financial education programs.