Kazaks Reluctant to Play the Stock Market
Kazaks Reluctant to Play the Stock Market
A government scheme to encourage people to buy more shares is currently being drafted in Kazakstan, but NBcentralAsia experts say that until the stock market becomes more transparent, people won’t have the confidence to invest.
As Mirlan Tashmetov, head of prudential management at the State Agency for Financial Supervision, told Interfax-Kazakstan on March 16, the plan is to try and educate the public about investment. The awareness-raising campaign will include special television programmes and university courses about the stock market.
NBCentralAsia analysts say that although Kazakstan’s population has significant investment potential, people are poorly informed about their options.
“Most people are not interested in the profits or structure of their pension savings,” said Aytolkyn Kurmanova, head of the analysis department at the ATF-Bank. “That is a sign that people need to be better informed if they are to become more active investors – of course in addition to having spare cash and the courage to invest it.”
Kurmanova added that as well as offering financial education, the government should work on making the business sector more attractive for investors. Small and medium-sized businesses should be encouraged, investments should be covered by state guarantees to minimise risks, and the stock market should be made more transparent.
Eduard Poletaev, editor-in-chief of the Mir Yevrazii journal, agreed with this view, saying it is vital to open up the stock market vital if people are to have any confidence or interest in entering it.
“We shouldn’t forget the disillusionment of the early Nineties, when Soviet bank savings were wiped out, or the subsequent years when people’s hopes was cruelly crushed by the collapsing pyramid schemes,” he said.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
As Mirlan Tashmetov, head of prudential management at the State Agency for Financial Supervision, told Interfax-Kazakstan on March 16, the plan is to try and educate the public about investment. The awareness-raising campaign will include special television programmes and university courses about the stock market.
NBCentralAsia analysts say that although Kazakstan’s population has significant investment potential, people are poorly informed about their options.
“Most people are not interested in the profits or structure of their pension savings,” said Aytolkyn Kurmanova, head of the analysis department at the ATF-Bank. “That is a sign that people need to be better informed if they are to become more active investors – of course in addition to having spare cash and the courage to invest it.”
Kurmanova added that as well as offering financial education, the government should work on making the business sector more attractive for investors. Small and medium-sized businesses should be encouraged, investments should be covered by state guarantees to minimise risks, and the stock market should be made more transparent.
Eduard Poletaev, editor-in-chief of the Mir Yevrazii journal, agreed with this view, saying it is vital to open up the stock market vital if people are to have any confidence or interest in entering it.
“We shouldn’t forget the disillusionment of the early Nineties, when Soviet bank savings were wiped out, or the subsequent years when people’s hopes was cruelly crushed by the collapsing pyramid schemes,” he said.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
