The first thought was that more scrips made available would cool the market down. Then it dawned that those mere scrips without fundamental probability of acceptable returns would only exacerbate matters. And now, thanks to the cricket world cup, regulators have had a brief respite to take off their thinking caps (that haven't worked) to good old fashioned scratching of heads in coming up with a solution. The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) proposal to create a special fund has gone and confused matters further. What would be the purpose of this fund, where would it come from and how would it address the situation has not been clearly explained. With the lock-in period having expired for blue chip corporate GrameenPhone, what are the possible consequences? A host of companies have in the meantime lined up to offer initial public offerings (IPOs), meaning drawing on more cash from the exchange in these days of severe liquidity crisis and no one seems to know quite where it's all heading. It is unthinkable that large scale sellers cannot be identified and one waits eagerly for the report of the enquiry committee, whose chairman has tacitly admitted that while he would identify those responsible, he too was unsure of any punishment to be meted out. The vandalism will continue in the meantime by investors who have lost all that they gambled with. But as a caveat let us also understand that the more shrewd ones, mostly city based, have played their cards well leaving the outstation hopefuls with egg on their face. Essential prices are playing all sorts of games with the consumers. Potatoes are being sold at literally throw-away prices, much to the dismay of farmers while the vegetables that are usually cheap at this time of year are heading south in terms of price. The less said of rice the better, but can we abstain? The staple continues to climb and nothing anyone has done has had any effect. The crunch of increasing power tariffs will have its own effect in two phases in the coming year. Power will be available but at a price. It is up to the consumer to decide what price it is that they can afford. (The writer can be reached at [email protected])
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