Hope: No change on BSE until economy improves

The Barbados Stock Exchange (BSE) is being affected by a number of factors resultingin particularly low trading activity.
Admitting there was not a lot of activity on the local stock market, BSE’s manager of registry services Donna Hope attributed this to the “state of the economy”.
“Currently, I know trading is very low . . . but until the economy improves, we are not really going to see an immediate change. 
“We do recognize that it might have to do also with a lack of knowledge but my opinion is that our society is a buy-and-hold society where people normally invest and those who receive shares from their parents, they want to hold on to them,” she said.
Hope said the BSE was currently doing moreto “better educate” the public on investing through various methods such as literature and by approaching different groups.
She said while some improvement in market activity was expected as the economy rebounds, she believed there would be “less disposable income for a big chunk of the working population” based on the November 2010 Budget.
“I think right now it is a buyers’ market and the prices are attractive for those who may wish to buy. . . . 
“My opinion is that we are not going to see any jump in trading, at least not for right now. Not until things are whole again in this economy and because you would have already seen that share prices have fallen,” Hope pointed out.