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DSE, CSE to remain shut until May 16

BSEC fails to consider DSE plea due to quorum crisis


FE Report | Thursday, 7 May 2020



The country's two bourses will stay closed until May 16 as the government further extended the ongoing holidays to flatten the spread of deadly coronavirus.
The government has further extended the ongoing shutdown until May 16 as the death toll from Covid-19 and the number of detected patients continued to surge.
The trading and settlement activities on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) will remain closed in line with the government announcement, said a DSE statement issued on Wednesday.
However, the DSE has sought permission from the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission for resumption of trading and settlement activities from May 10.
"If we receive permission from the BSEC, the trading and settlement activities will be started from the date instructed by the regulator," the DSE statement said.
The DSE has also sought some exemptions from complying with various rules and the trading could not be resumed without the waivers amid ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
BSEC officials, however, said the commission could not provide the waivers without a commission meeting, while the commission now faced a quorum crisis.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), will also remain closed until May 16, said a CSE official.
The CSE earlier said that if the government extends the ongoing holidays further, the trading and official activities will also remain shut in line with the government notification.
The Ministry of Public Administration issued a gazette notification on Tuesday noon extending the ongoing closure of all public and private offices until May 16, including weekly and special holidays.
Emergency services related to the supply of power, water, gas and fuel, port activities and telephone, internet, media and postal operations will remain out of the purview of the shutdown.
Besides, the same order will be applicable for vehicles carrying agricultural goods, fertilizers, food, medicine and other daily essentials.
Earlier on March 23, the government initially declared 10 days general holidays, including weekly holidays, for all public and private offices effective from March 26 to April 4.
Later the government extended the general holidays until May 5 in phases due to rising cases of Covid-19 in Bangladesh.
The death toll from the deadly virus has reached to 186 and the number of total infected person stands at 11,719 as of Wednesday.
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