Bangladesh securities market's longing for blue chips may now be over as the prime minister orders the listing of state-owned enterprises (SoEs) on the country's bourses.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the directive Thursday to the authorities concerned in this regard, which officials say would, inter alia, also help infuse discipline in the state enterprises.
The direction came during a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) at the Planning Commission in Dhaka, Planning Minister Abdus Salam told journalists after the meeting that endorsed 10 development projects in different sectors.
Twenty-two public limited companies and SoEs, including the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh, Jamuna and Padma oil companies, DESCO, Titas Gas, and Bangladesh Shipping Corporation have already listed with the stock markets in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Emerging from the meeting, Planning Division Senior Secretary Satyajit Karmakar told journalists that the PM asked the Finance Division and the Finance Secretary to take effective steps for securities listings of the SoEs and the government entities.
"The PM did not specify the names of the SoEs, but asked the Finance Division and the Finance Secretary to select the SoEs and the concerned government companies after proper scrutiny before enlisting those on the capital market," he said.
Citing the PM's directive, Planning Minister Mr Salam said, "It as an important decision-this would enhance the competitiveness of those government enterprises as they would eventually be able to minimize their expenditures."
Meanwhile, not a single state-run company has offloaded shares on the stock-market for the last 12 years "due mainly to government's apathy and the companies' unwillingness", sources say.
Meanwhile, the ECNEC in its meeting approved 10 projects at an aggregate cost of Tk 55.64 billion.
Out of the total costs, the government will provide Tk 52.03 billion from its internal resources while the remaining Tk 3.60 billion will come from external resources.
The ECNEC approved land -acquisition and- development project for setting up Sheikh Hasina Medical University, Khulna, that costs Tk 18.75 billion.
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