Romanians don"t have money, but if they did, they"d put it in the stock market

More than half of Romanians don"t invest because they don"t have money, but if they did, they"d pick higher risk instruments over bank deposits, which are considered safer, according to a recent study by "IMAS International", conducted in Central and Eastern Europe countries.

"Over 60% of reviewed people say they don"t save money because they can"t afford to or because they prefer to spend it or invest it more profitably", said Ansgar Lohner, general manager of IMAS Austria, the company which made such a study for the first time in Romania.

The report also shows that almost 50% of Romanians have a favorable opinion when it comes to investing in bonds, stocks or mutual funds, far more than Hungarians, Austrians or Serbians, who are far more cautious in this area.

In spite of all this, over 80% of Romanians are aware of the importance of saving, which puts them second in CEE countries, after Hungary.

"Romanians save on average 183 lei a month in a bank, with men saving more than women (207 lei versus 147)", Lohner added, who said that Romanians are the most skeptical when it comes to long terms saving, due to economic uncertainties.

Austrians save on average around 100 Euros.

Romanians are very pessimistic

Romanians are far from feeling optimistic about the future, IMAS studies show, as almost half of them expect to save even less, due to having less and less money, on the back of inflation and job uncertainty.

Even though Romanians are beginning to focus on investment products and life insurance instead of term deposits, bank managers say that demand for the latter will persist.

"I n spite of the obvious trend of switching from bank deposits to investment funds and other products, term deposits will remain the dominant product", says Sorin Mititelu, Retail Director of Banca Comercială Română (BCR), who said that money attracted from the population will continue to grow in the coming years.

According to IMAS report, 12% of people put their savings in term deposits, 9% in life insurance, 8% in pension funds, 7% in certificates of deposit, and 5% in other investment instruments.

Over 80% of Romanians are aware of the importance of saving, which puts them second in CEE countries, after Hungary.