Bank of England teams up with Beano comic to boost financial literacy

LONDON: Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will receive help from Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx and other characters from Britain's longest-running comic on Thursday to help school children learn more about money.

Characters from The Beano, published weekly since 1938, will be part of lesson plans for teachers at British primary schools.

In one lesson, Minnie decides how to spend 10 pounds she receives as a birthday present, while in another Dennis is almost taken in by a financial scam.

Bailey - who has spent most of his time wrestling with the economic impact of the coronavirus since taking the BoE's helm in March - will launch the programme online later on Thursday. The Beano's publishers said their market research had shown that only 27% of children enjoyed learning about money, dropping to just 19% of girls.

The BoE is not the first central bank to use cartoons to get its message across to children.

More than 10 years ago, the European Central Bank released a cartoon of a scaly, blue "inflation monster" terrorising a city similar to Frankfurt until it was tamed by ECB officials. - REUTERS

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