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Raising Dhaka's Stock
The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). which be gan working as a fully fledged market just 16 years ago. is showing signs of picking up steam, particularly with interest shown in recent months by foreign investors Restrictions on investment by non-residents were withdrawn last year, and a great deal of incentives were provided by allowing repatriation of capital gains and dividend as well as original capital In an interview Kbllshed in this paper on Saturday, chairman of
; DSE Amlnul Islam Khan said that Uberalisa tion. Including abolition of capital gains tax and Khdrawal of development and the Jamuna
Ige surcharges, was largely responsible for reviving local interest in the market, leading to a tripling of trading activity this year compared to last year
The optimism shown by Khan was perhaps only a relative one. because the real problems facing the stock market here are quite monumental, and a great deal of work tn terms of institution-building and initiative-oriented operations is needed to make the exchange a professional one At present, there are no brokering institutions, only 195 individual "members" who operate as brokers. The lack of brokerage firms means the DSE has not quite graduated from being a seml-feudal type of auction yard, where public participation is restricted. However, capital formation through the shares market will not be possible unless a greater number of local individuals and companies become willing to invest their money in stocks rather than keep them with safe deposit accounts in commercial banks Ih ^order to attract more investors, the operations of the DSE have to become open to more people, with greater information disseminated to make the market more comprehensible and accessible to the general public
If one looks at the workings of stock exchanges abroad, one finds that detailed and reliable information regarding a company's performance, and protections of its potential, are made available to buyers by brokerage firms. This creates confidence on the part of the buyer and enables him to take risks Exclusive dependence bn annual reports of individual companies, without an independent but professional assessment, as is the case in Dhaka at present, cannot be a good idea. The exchange and the private sector, par tlcularly individual DSE members and financial institutions should explore ways on how best to proceed to build up professional brokerage institutions. Including sending people abroad to study the operations of other markets and firms
The DSE chairman has spoken about the computerisation of the market in the near future to make it more efficient, but it can also be argued that at the present level of activity — a turnover of 28 crore Taka in the first nine months of this year may be good in comparison to last year s, but compared to other regional markets it is quite poor — that can hardly be the priority Instead, or rather in addition to it. the DSE should concentrate on promotional activities at home as well as abroad in order to attract more Investors. What is astonishing is the total absence of any regular business programme on Bangladesh Television (BTV) or any Information on the stock market. Since BTV is a state-owned body, the finance ministry should be able to persuade the information ministry to arrange regular programmes, produced professionally, on the stock market in particular and business activities in general. The DSE itself has a great responsibility in conducting promotional activities in foreign, particularly regional markets, to attract investment. Khan himself identified foreign interest as a major reason for the DSE s revival In recent months, but he must be aware too that foreign brokerage firms are not going to be interested in Dhaka unless they see a professional and vibrant market which holds out the promise of rapid capital gains on shares. The finance minister has certainly removed some barriers, but it is the DSE which has to clear the path for the Investments to roll in