The capital market is a great opportunity for the economic recovery of Romania

The Romanian Investor Relations Association (ARIR) organized the third edition of the event “Market Sentiment”. What is the current economic context and what are the perspectives of this year are two of the topics debated by Daniela Șerban, ARIR President and Co-founder with her guests, specialists from the financial field: Cristian Popa, CFA, Member of the Board, National Bank of Romania, Mihnea Bărbulescu, Member of the Board, Erste Asset Management and Milan Prușan, Managing Director, NN Investment Partners.

The Capital Market can be a strong engine of economic growth for Romania, by listing companies on the stock exchange, is one of the conclusions of yesterday’s debates.

“It is very important to take the pulse of the financial market and to have a clear vision on the economic realities. There are more and more discussions about economic recovery, but this is possible only with significant financial support. Lately, there was great emphasis on the financial support from the government or on granting bank loans easily and I think  it is time to highlight the importance of financial resources from the capital market,” according to Daniela Șerban, ARIR President and Co-founder.

“The state needs to bring its companies to the stock exchange and, thus, to maximize their value,” said Cristian Popa, National Bank of Romania. The capital market is functioning and it is developing despite the pandemic situation and state or private companies could benefit from this opportunity. Listing the companies on the stock exchange is a big and useful step for Romania, especially in terms of the close interaction between the capital market and banking sector. In the current situation, when financing is vital, companies can attract loans from banks and development capital from the capital market.”

“The Romanian companies need to access the capital market more strongly,” according to Mihnea Bărbulescu, Erste Asset Management. We have the instruments – the investment funds willing to invest in companies, we have the investors that are looking for high returns but what we need at this moment is realistic expectations from the investors and reasonable demands from the companies. “What ARIR is doing, an harmonization of interests, is essential, as financing through the capital market is the way through which Romania can grow.”

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“We encourage companies to go public, we encourage the state to make an IPO, even in a smaller percentage of a company where the ownership is complete” said Milan Prușan, NN Investment Partners. Even if the financial market shows lower valuations at this time, in the next period there will be improvements, opportunities that deserve to be taken advantage of at the respective time.

The specialists present at this edition of “Market Sentiment” event are optimistic, predicting a gradual, although slow, recovery of the Romanian economy. We also have positive news when we are talking about the exchange rate, as RON is the most stable currency from Central and Eastern Europe, for this period. Globally, during the peak of the pandemic there was an unprecedented level of savings from the interwar period but, starting with May, there was an acceleration of the investments, a sign that the economies of the affected countries are on the path of economic recovery.