Cartoon character who has all the answers on finance

Dr Dirham wants to help you get the most from your money. The cartoon character is just one initiative design to give young Emiratis a sound financial education

No financial question is too hard for Dr Dirham.

Sporting a beard and spectacles, the cartoon character in national dress cheerfully answers financial queries, big and small, in a series of short videos dedicated to topics from major purchases and the stock market to everyday shopping and retirement.

Thinking about buying a car? Dr Dirham smiles as a yellow sports car zooms by and says, "you must consider your budget and resale value."

The doctor reminds his viewers to compare the prices of cars at different dealers and to shop around for insurance. It is all done in a fatherly voice: "Don't forget there are additional costs to add to the price of the car, like licence, maintenance and insurance fees."

"We decided to use a friendly animated character to break down the information in easy steps, as financial topics are heavy and often difficult to understand," says Hamda Al Kindi, senior information specialist at the information management division of Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development.

The council launched Dr Dirham two years ago at www.dirhami.ae as part of a personalised financial literacy programme to provide easy access to resources and information regarding financial matters.

The goal is to give viewers the necessary tools and knowledge to enable them to make "well-informed, sound financial choices".

"We found out through research that there was a real need for financial literacy in the UAE," she said.

Concern that Emiratis - particularly young Emiratis - are falling into debt, is well founded.

Research conducted last year by Nielsen found that young nationals spend most of their money on fashion items.

Neilsen Next: Understanding Youth in the UAE, also discovered that Emiratis spent as much as three time more than their expatriate Arab and Asian peers/

It also found that their average household income of Dh13,500 was double that of their peers.

Teaching sound money management is one of the priorities of the Emirates Foundation for Youth Development, which has begun a series of workshops looking at financial literacy.

At its first meeting last month, the guest speakers included Nima Abu-Wardeh, a leading business writer who also founded the websites Cashy and Campus Cashy to help students and young people manage their money.

Culture plays an important role in financial decisions, she says. "Within Arab culture, it is considered ayb or shameful to discuss money. Arabs are generous by nature and can't say no to spending money on their loved ones and friends, and some would rather go into debt than admit they have financial limits. They don't want to be seen as stingy or struggling."

Besides social expectations and stigma, Ms Abu-Wardeh says that many Arab men refuse to seek out financial advice as it implies that they are "incompetent" as providers for the family.

"Often causes for divorces have financial bases," she says, observing that some husbands make their wives take out loans in their names. "Then the struggles and arguments begin over how it is settled."

Ms Al Kindi says the workshops conducted on the back of the Dirhami initiative show that young people are listening to the good doctor's advice. Asked about saving money, 92 per cent of participants said they would set aside a fixed amount of money each month rather than running to their parents for extra cash.

When it came to buying an expensive item, the majority said they would shop around rather than pull out their credit card.

Only one in five said they would ask their parents for the money.

"We are targeting youth because that is when they start thinking about luxury items," she says. "So we are giving them the tools to spend wisely."