PM asks SEC to help stabilise stock market

Mohammad Mufazzal Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sits today (Wednesday) with the top bosses of the ministry of finance, the central bank, the securities regulator, the revenue board, the ICB and the associations of banks and insurance companies in a bid to give necessary instructions to stabilise the stock market, officials said yesterday. The initiative comes after the country's prime bourse Dhaka stock exchange (DSE) alone has shed more than 45 per cent this year --- its worst performance since 1997 when it lost 67 per cent. As a result, hundreds of thousands of affected investors have continued demonstrations until Tuesday. On the day, the DGEN lost 4.67 per cent or 228 points, with a demand from the investors to bring back normalcy to the market. The angry investors on several occasions sought the Prime Minister's direct intervention to stabilise the market. The Prime Minister Tuesday ordered the chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Professor M Khairul Hossain to take measures required for stabilising the market. The PM's instruction came at a meeting between her and Professor Khairul held at the PM's Office following the continuous slide of the market. Professor Khairul said the move taken by the PM comes after her deep concern over the present situation of the country's stock market. At the meeting with the PM, the SEC chairman outlined the present situation of the stock market, following which the premier instructed him to take necessary initiatives to restore stability to the market. "She is very much concerned over the present market situation. That's why she has ordered me to take necessary measures to bring stability to the market," Professor Khairul told the FE. After returning from the PM's Office, the SEC chairman sat with other commission members and talked about the instruction given by the Prime Minister. "We have also discussed our earlier scheduled meeting, which will be held with the representatives of Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) at SEC on the same day," he added. Another source disclosed that an instruction may come from the PM for the banks to support the market. Professor Khairul said the Prime Minister has called a meeting with the key stakeholders as "she is extremely concerned about the market situation". Finance Minister AMA Muhith, the Bangladesh Bank governor, the SEC chairman, the Bank and Financial Institutions Division secretary, the NBR chairman, the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) chief and the representatives of banks and insurance companies are expected to attend Wednesday's meeting. The SEC chairman, and Executive Director Mohammad Saifur Rahman said the meeting would be held at 7:30pm Wednesday at Gonobhaban.