Govt committed to restoring capital market stability: PM

 
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Wednesday said the government is committed to restoring stability in the capital market and rebuilding investors' confidence through reforms, greater transparency and stronger regulation, noting that the market is gradually recovering.

"The condition of the capital market is gradually improving and it is now doing well. The government is fully committed to 
restoring stability in the capital market and rebuilding investors' confidence," he told Parliament during the question-answer session.

The issue was raised by Patuakhali-4 lawmaker Alhaj ABM Mosharraf Hossain on behalf of Khulna-4 MP SK Azizul Bari.

The House sat at 3:00pm with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad in the chair. The first 30 minutes were allocated for the Prime Minister's Question Time, during which Tarique answered four starred questions and nine supplementary questions.

Responding to the question, the Prime Minister said the government had already undertaken a series of initiatives to build a stronger and more sustainable capital market by ensuring good governance, transparency and accountability, increasing market depth through product diversification, and expanding investor education.

He also outlined the government's 17 priority programmes for reforming the capital market.
Tarique said investigations by experts, investor organisations and relevant agencies found that the prolonged downturn in the stock market during the previous Awami League government's tenure stemmed from market manipulation, artificial price movements, irregularities in IPOs and bond issues, weak regulatory oversight, poor corporate governance, lack of transparency, limited participation by institutional investors, policy inconsistencies and the absence of investor-friendly tax measures.

He said the government would identify those responsible for the market collapse, which left thousands of investors facing heavy losses, and bring them to justice.

The Prime Minister said the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had investigated stock market scandals, identified several individuals and initiated legal action, while further investigations were underway to determine whether others were involved.

He added that the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) had imposed fines totalling Tk 1,497 crore on individuals and institutions involved in market manipulation, irregularities and corruption. Reports of various investigation committees had also been sent to the ACC for further legal action.

Listing the reform measures, Tarique said the government appointed a new BSEC chairman and three commissioners with capital market expertise on June 4. He said the new commission withdrew the floor price shortly after assuming office and was working to encourage the direct listing of profitable state-owned enterprises, multinational companies and other large firms.

The government is also planning to list more fundamentally strong and SME companies, strengthen whistleblower protection, reform audit practices, facilitate foreign portfolio investment, introduce capital market tribunals, establish reform and investigation commissions, expand the use of blockchain technology, introduce AI-based market surveillance, digitalise BO account services, adopt investor-friendly tax policies and strengthen investor protection through legal reforms.

He expressed hope that these measures would restore investor confidence and ensure the long-term stability and sustainable growth of the country's capital market.

Replying to a supplementary question from MP Sarwar Jamal Nizam, Tarique said reducing disparities across different sectors was one of the government's priorities, and the capital market was no exception.

He said the experts recently appointed by the government were expected to recommend measures to strengthen both the Dhaka Stock Exchange and the Chattogram Stock Exchange.

Responding to another supplementary question from MP Abdul Hannan Masud on alleged irregularities in insurance companies, the Prime Minister said the newly appointed chairman of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) was investigating the complaints.

"Once the investigations are completed, action will be taken in accordance with the law," he said.