Govt moves to bring foreign cos in bourses

The government has initiated a move to motivate the foreign companies operating in the country to be listed in the bourses.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) would sit sometime next week with all the agencies and stakeholders concerned to devise a time-bound plan of action for listing the companies with the stock exchanges.

"It will help make the country's stock market vibrant," said a senior official of bank and financial institutions division.

He said the division already requested the agencies and stakeholders to attend the meeting.

"It is a high time for listing new companies as the bourses are performing well now," said the official, adding that the government wants to make the market more stable for the sake of the investors and the economy.

Enlistment of several new foreign companies would help enhance the depth of the stock market, he said. Currently, some 13 foreign companies are listed in the country's stock market.

A good number of profit-making companies have long been operating in the country.

Meanwhile, the authorities were considering a fresh initiative to offload shares of state-owned enterprises, officials said. The initial initiative kept on hold since the market setback in late 2010 and early 2011.

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