Dhaka (Barta24.com): Finance Minister AHM Mostafa Kamal did not see any bad feature in the three months’ continuous fall of the price index of the stock market. Rather he told, ‘I will not term the stock market situation as bad. This is alright, well placed. There is no problem now in the stock market.’
From last January 27 to April 21 the share is falling in two markets. This fall has caused reduction by 600 points. Due to share price fall the investors lost their capital to the tune of Taka 50 thousand crore. To check the loss the investors came out on the road in protest chanting various slogans. The Finance Minister told this to the journalists in the evening of April 22 at BSEC Bhavan, Agargaon.
When he was asked that if the market is not bad then why you have called an emergency meeting in reply the Minister said that you are writing in the media that there is no capital market, no Bangladesh, even not we. Now I have come to know everything after coming to Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) even on holiday. I saw that the capital market is alright, there is no problem.
The Minister put reverse question to the journo that where such situation has taken place. Where is the market fall? The market index was earlier 4500 index points, which enhanced to 5000 points. Now it has reduced to 5300 points. So what happened to market?
In reply to a question, then he was not observing any problem in the market the Finance Minister replied that the capital market can rise or fall. To a question the market did not fall in last twenty years, he replied that this is not correct. You don’t know. First you know then come to me. Again the market can fall. In Japan in 1989 the point was 39 thousand while it fell to 7 thousand points in 2007. In USA it fell to 7000 points from 17000 and in India it fell to 7000 points from 21000 points. However in India that index jumped to 22000, 23000 points. Everywhere this can happen. You cannot bring any body forcibly to the capital market. If any body wants to come then he can. If no body comes, then it is alright. I don’t see the market bad. Here the market is run by you. You are running the capital. But the way you run as if there is no market. The way you draw it appears that there is no share market in Bangladesh. I don’t understand your strategy.
What I understand that you are creating panic among the investors. But it is of no use. Because our investors are not like the investors of other countries. The investors of other countries are sufficiently educated and they invest knowing the correct situation while in our country such type of investors are few. If everybody understood it, then there was no need of such a powerful commission regarding the market. It has been formed only to protect the interest of the investors.
The Finance Minister said that the market slides very few and far between. In 1996 and in 2010 there were great collapses in the capital market. Definitely there were culprits behind these collapses. They must be found out. In reply to a question of the journalists the Minister said in our country the market frauds are brought under the purview of law. They are either jailed or fined. There is nice law here. But such measures are not taken in many of the countries around the world.
AHM Mostofa Kamal informed that once the price-market (pe) ratio was 80:90. Now it is 15:20. The less pe is better for the market. Now the share price is not in artificially over priced condition.