Govt Says: Steps to compensate investors in 10 days
The finance minister has said:
that steps to compensate small investors will be finalized in the next 10 days.
"The government initiative to stabilise the capital market by regaining investors' confidence will succeed," Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said while briefing journalists following a meeting with various market stakeholders at the finance ministry on Wednesday evening. "The committee formed to compensate the losses of small investors
submitted their report today (Wednesday)," he said adding that the body has made a number of recommendations, which would take a few days to go through and verify. "The matter will be hopefully finalised within the next 10 days and made public through you," the minister told journalists. "However, I can assure you of such an initiative which is good for everyone." The market instability started in Dec 2010 and until the first week of the current month, the market fell by around 60 percent in three phases over the last one year and three months. Amidst the flux, prime minister Sheikh Hasina sat with stakeholders on Nov 16 and ordered to stabilise the market alongside compensating small investors. A committee, headed by the government's Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) managing director Mohammad Fayekuzzaman, was formed to formulate ways to compensate them. The capital market currently has around 1.7 million investors of which 1.5 million are small investors. "There is no liquidity crisis in the market; there is a crisis of confidence. We are trying our best to regain investors' confidence. Over the past year, a number of regulations were made by the SEC [Securities and Exchanges Commission] to help prop up the market." The minister continued, "We want a stable market. Big rises or falls are bad. Our aim is to stabilise it. We are working to that end and hope to succeed."
