FIJI'S stock market continues to develop and is well positioned to be a key player in economic growth, South Pacific Stock Exchange chief executive officer Jinita Prasad said yesterday.
Her comments followed that of Doctor Parmendra Sharma of Griffith University made at a symposium that addressed banks and financing in Fiji.
Ms Prasad was responding to comments about the small size and low liquidity of the stock exchange market in the country.
"The stock market has seen listings increase from 10 to 18 since 2001, and has generated significant returns for investors, including many who fall in the "mums and dads" category.
"In the first half of this year alone, we had over $7 million in trades, which is 122 per cent more than for the whole of last year.
"We have also seen a number of successful public offerings where companies have come to the market for capital to fund expansion or to facilitate exit strategies," Ms Prasad said.
She said a significant number of corporate actions and growth in listed companies have resulted from listing.
"As a different measure of the stock market size, the market capitalisation to GDP has increased from 7.8 per cent in 2000 to 12.9 per cent in 2011. This clearly confirms that despite starting small, we are growing steadily," she said.