The government is committed to restoring stability in the capital market and rebuilding investors’ confidence through comprehensive reforms, enhanced transparency and stronger regulatory measures, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman told Parliament on Wednesday.
He said the capital market has shown signs of gradual improvement and the government is taking necessary steps to create a stable, transparent and sustainable investment environment.
“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,” the prime minister said while responding during the question-answer session in Parliament chaired by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad.
The issue was raised by Patuakhali-4 lawmaker Alhaj ABM Mosharraf Hossain on behalf of Khulna-4 MP SK Azizul Bari.
Tarique Rahman said the government has undertaken a number of initiatives to strengthen the capital market by ensuring good governance, improving transparency and accountability, diversifying investment products, increasing market depth and expanding investor education programmes.
He said investigations by experts, investor groups and relevant authorities identified several reasons behind the prolonged downturn in the stock market during the previous Awami League government’s tenure.
These included market manipulation, artificial price increases, irregularities in initial public offerings (IPOs) and bond issuances, weak regulatory supervision, poor corporate governance, lack of transparency, limited institutional investor participation, declining investor confidence, inconsistent policies and the absence of investor-friendly tax measures.
The prime minister said the government would identify those responsible for the market collapse, which caused significant losses for thousands of investors, and ensure that legal action is taken against them.
He said the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has already investigated various stock market scandals, identified several individuals and started legal proceedings. Further investigations are underway to determine whether additional individuals or organisations were involved.
According to the prime minister, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has imposed fines totalling Tk 1,497 crore on individuals and institutions involved in market manipulation, irregularities and corruption.
He added that reports prepared by different investigation committees have also been forwarded to the ACC for further legal action.
Highlighting the government’s reform initiatives, Tarique said a new BSEC chairman and three commissioners with professional expertise in the capital market were appointed on 4 June this year.
He said the new commission removed the floor price shortly after taking charge and is working to promote the direct listing of profitable state-owned enterprises, multinational companies and other major firms.
The government is also planning measures to increase the listing of fundamentally strong companies and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), improve whistleblower protection, reform audit systems, attract foreign portfolio investment and establish capital market tribunals.
Other planned reforms include setting up reform and investigation commissions, expanding blockchain technology applications, introducing artificial intelligence-based market surveillance systems, digitising BO account services, adopting investor-friendly tax policies and strengthening investor protection through legal reforms.
The prime minister expressed hope that these steps would help regain investors’ trust and ensure long-term stability, sustainable growth and stronger development of Bangladesh’s capital market.
