In the past, many investment schemes have appeared in the Kingdom — real estate and the SAWA scam being two which come to mind. The problem with those two and with all others is that no clear investment law was followed. People were surprised to see ads on the paper without any monitoring by any authority. Many people who were seeking quick and easy money rushed to invest. The promoters took advantage of an unregulated investment environment and, plainly speaking, stole large sums of money. The investors were then caught between the lawyers and the courts as they tried to retrieve their money.

The stock market then emerged as a safe place to invest. It is controlled and regulated by the government and is also supervised by a government committee. People — young and old, rich and poor, employed and unemployed — put their blind trust in the stock market and tasted short-term wealth. In a very short time, they felt safe and the market became one of the biggest in the region; the market indicators were used as signals of development and industrial production in the country.

Then suddenly, the market indicators fell by several thousands and the hearts of millions of investors missed more than a few beats. The market indicators dropped when people sold their properties, homes and cars and got loans so they could invest in the stock market. People did not listen when they were told that a drop was coming. Millions in fast profits and, most importantly, trust that the market was under direct government supervision made them rule out all fears. When the market crashed, people thought that it was temporary and the indicator would soon go up. It continued to drop, however, until it reached the point where people’s mental states were seriously affected. Small investors started to ask where the profits were, where the dreams had gone and if the stock analysts had been similarly affected? The great indicator was in the red. Officialdom was quiet — neither replies to questions nor explanations were heard. There were only the analysts saying that the market would never remain down and that it would rise again. Instead it continued to fall. Some people sought solace in hospitals while others simply stopped monitoring the stock market.

After having their money stolen by conmen and crooks in earlier investment schemes, people trusted the stock market. It too unfortunately disappointed them. The question that I want answered is why no government department issued any statement on an economic issue that affects some 20 percent of the population. How can people trust their local economy? Are people going to continue to see their investments fall and be able to do nothing about it?

There was a defect somewhere in the system and we must admit it. And we allowed this problem to continue. Why did the money market authority allow the indicator to reach record highs and not do anything about it for months? Maybe they would say that it was free trade. I would say that free trade comes when there are rules and regulation to make sure that certain big sharks do not control all the information and play with it. Therefore I hold the responsible authorities to blame for the market crash.