In most European countries, investing on the stock market is part of the investment strategy of most middle class people. In Romania, however, it is still regarded as a game that benefits only speculators.
And if the train of attracting the vast majority of the people to the Romanian capital market has been missed, the Stock Exchange officials are now trying to make sure they have at least the attention of those for which investment currently means buying computer games at best.
The Bucharest Stock Exchange has therefore decided to turn investment in shares into a national sport (a virtual one at first, though), by sponsoring a game called Invest, open to approximately 300,000 high school students from some 3,300 schools.
The launch of the game is part of a wider programme, which also includes opening a show room for everyone to watch how trading on the Stock Exchange works or inviting a celebrity to open the trading session once a week.
The BSE management therefore seems determined not to miss the opportunity provided by the extremely good period experienced by the Stock Exchange, which has suddenly become front page news and made TV newscasts due to the very high gains provided to its investors.
"We want to turn the Bucharest Stock Exchange into one of the most attractive stock markets in the Central and Eastern Europe, and educating the future investors is essential. The launch of the game in high schools will be followed by promoting a trading simulation on the BSE website, aimed at college students mainly," Sergiu Oprescu, Bucharest Stock Exchange chairman told Ziarul Financiar.
The first game for high school students begins on March 31 and will last for about two months during which the participants will have 15 million ROL available to invest in the shares of 14 companies listed on BSE, in euros, dollars of ROL-denominated banking deposits.
The yield registered after nearly two months of trading and calculated by the real quotes of the shares on the Stock Exchange will help pick the winners of some $1,500 prizes each.
"We hope that once the financial education of the future investors has improved, we will see more interest from the current investors. Maybe this way we will win the Government's trust for listing the strategic national companies on the Stock Exchange," Oprescu says.
The low popularity of the Stock Exchange is largely due to the attitude of the Romanian State's representatives towards the capital market. Although they never miss a single opportunity to pose as huge supporters of the Stock Exchange, the Government officials have not encouraged the floatation of at least one strategic state-owned company (RomTelecom, Banca Comerciala Romana, Distrigaz, Electrica) or of the government securities in the last three years. Albeit Banca Romana pentru Dezvoltare's (Romanian Development Bank - BRD) market capitalisation has reached $1bn (compared with nearly $400 million at the time of privatisation), the State is not thinking of putting the about 7% in still holds in the bank on the market.
laurentiu.ispir@zf.ro
