Eagerly waiting to lift the floor price: BSEC chairman

Chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Professor Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam has said that they would lift the floor price once the capital market comes into a firm position.

"Whenever we see that the capital of the investments is safe, then we'll remove the floor price. We're also eagerly waiting for when we'll be able to remove the floor price," he said.

The BSEC chairman said this while addressing a seminar titled "Economic challenges for Bangladesh's capital market: Possible remedies" held at the auditorium of the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) in the capital on Tuesday.

Shibli said the current tenure of the BSEC is three years and two months as most of the countrymen were forced to remain at home when the office bearers took charge during the peak time of the pandemic.

"Then there were no such economic activities during that time which was followed by the Russia-Ukraine War and it appeared before us as an unexpected event," he added.

He said there is much pressure on the capital market as the index often witnesses fluctuation even because of the remarks of the concerned stakeholders.

"On the other hand, we came to see that the supply side had started to fall alongside the reserve coupled with the downtrend in the market index. That is why the floor price was imposed for the sake of the investors," he added.

The BSEC Chairman said that the current account flow has become normal again due to the timely steps of the government and the central bank for which there is no such complexity now regarding opening up of LCs.

"Hopefully, the foreign currency reserve will increase again while the Dollar rate will fall. The situation will become normal again. Once the prices of essentials fall, then the purchasing capacity of the commoners will be increased." he said, adding that the most negative effect of the liquidity crisis was put on the capital market.

Noting that bonds and treasury bills are safe products for investors, Shibli said that they have provided around Tk 60,000 crore to Tk 70,000 crore to the government through issuing bonds.

Presided over by ERF President Refayet Ullah Mirdha, Capital Market Stabilization Fund Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) Chairman Dr Hafiz Mohammad Hasan Babu, Chattogram Stock Exchange (CSE) Chairman Asif Ibrahim, NRB Commercial Bank Chairman SM Parvez Tomal, and Association of Asset Management Companies and Mutual Fund (AAMCMF) Chairman Hasan Imam spoke as the guests of honour.

On the occasion, ERF member Mohammad Mufazzal Hossain presented the keynote paper.

/KN/