Everyone understood that the law should be enacted fast, and market players were deeply concerned then, which all resulted in the compromise decision that the law would come into force in 2022. The discussion was extended, but at the time we assumed a smoother growth in the number of individuals entering the stock market. Ultimately, we came to have a really soft and compromise version of this law with deferred enactment. Yet, we are seeing, in current market developments, intensive inflows of non-qualified investors — ordinary citizens entering the stock market. What we have to report now is that financial companies, taking advantage of the transition period before entry into force of the law, are touting and hard-selling products unfit for non-qualified investors. When a deposit account matures, the customer is offered an alternative investment product instead of deposit extension. An inexperienced investor is flooded with the windy talk of capital protection, guaranteed yield, and the likes of structured bonds and structured instruments. Our view is that this situation calls for decisive action.The reasons for this are, regretfully, the misuse of consumer trust becoming commonplace, and offerings including structured products of a complicated nature without guaranteed yield or return of investment — unlike stateguaranteed interest income. We therefore intend to launch, before the non-qualified investor protection law enters into force, so-called key information documents. A key information document is essentially a clear, transparent description of a financial product. These documents will lay out product specifics and risks.
I remember that moment vividly, as it happened during my mandate as Prime Minister of Romania. As a veteran, in office since 1990, I am fully aware to what extent Romania has benefited from the significant support provided by the European Investment Bank. The projects financed by EIB proved to be a catalyst for development, with a multiplier effect in all the economic sectors. Nevertheless, Romania continues to need (i) to develop solid growth strategies based on investments and (ii) to accomplish the development priorities in infrastructure, healthcare and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as (iii) to enhance cohesion with the other EU member states. The future will certainly bring challenges as well as opportunities. One opportunity, as per the latest European Investment Bank’s flagship report on investment, is the present context of low interest rates, which could provide support for speeding up lending and investments. There is adequate room for upscaling public investment in areas such as: smart infrastructure, digital technology and education. Fairly new topics like the digital economy and FinTech, as well as climate change risks and Green Finance are gaining ground and importance on everyone’s agenda, having the potential to shift capital allocation and contribute to new investments. Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to stress the importance of the EU structural and cohesion funds for Romania and to point out the need for further foreign direct investments.