Attitudes on stock market shift
People’s perception of the stock market has improved significantly since two years ago, a survey by Hellenic Exchanges SA has shown. Respondents with a positive view of the local market have increased from 33 percent in 2005 to 42 percent this year, although the majority (58 percent) have maintained a wary stance toward it. More than three in four people (76 percent) believe that the influence of the stock market on the country’s economic environment is significant, while 68 percent think that over the last two years some efforts have been made to improve its operation and role. The percentage of those who are against investing in stocks has declined from 54 percent in 2005 to 48 percent in 2007. The survey found that Greeks have a negative view of the Athens market, claiming a past record of lack of credibility (20 percent) and the loss of huge amounts of capital when the bears set in in 2000 (19 percent), rather than lack of funds to invest (only 2 percent). Asked «What would make you invest your money in the stock market?» 30 percent said it would take a rise of the general index but a large number called for stricter measures to increase its transparency and reliability, along with the entry of big companies on the stock market. Most Greeks (85 percent) insist that the stock market should keep investors better informed. On what went wrong with the stock exchange in the past, 66 percent mentioned the state’s lack of control and the listing of many companies that were not fit for entry. XNET regional platform Hellenic Exchanges is moving toward the creation of a major single transaction system, named «XNET,» which will seek to interconnect on one platform various stock markets in Southeastern Europe and the Middle East. The company’s aim is to set up a single virtual market for the region. The Economy and Finance Ministry is funding part of this new project, which is budgeted at 3.7 million euros. The plan provides for the participation of the markets of Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, the Ukraine, Albania, Bosnia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Egypt and Jordan. The platform’s central services will be the sharing of financial information via the Internet, single access to markets and the forwarding of liquidation orders.
