Bankers' fund to enter market Nov-end

Dhaka, Oct 25 — The Stock Market Stabilisation Fund or SMSF will flow into the market in the last week of November.

After a meeting with market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) chairman Nazrul Islam Mazumder told reporters, "We hope the fund will be in the market after all processes end by the last week of November."

"It will start initially with Tk 10 billion," Nazrul added.

He said the SEC has assured all help in this regard.

On Sunday, Nazrul said, "We have decided in principle to make the investments as soon as possible after receiving approval from the central bank and the share market regulator."

On Tuesday, he said, "Bangladesh doesn't have any asset management company to manage such a big fund. So we'll have to form an asset management committee, too."

The BAB chairman also insisted the fund is different from the banks' portfolio investment. "The banks are going to invest within the legal limit."

On Oct 20, Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) said they will start investing in the capital market from Sunday to bolster the sagging market. The exposure limit for banks in the capital market has been increased to 10 percent of their liabilities.

The bank owners' body chief also said 20 banks will contribute Tk 200 million each to this fund. Besides them, insurance association and listed companies will also subscribe to the fund to participate.

The announcements came after weeks of discussions on the issue as ministers, regulators and stock brokers sought to end protests by small investors over the past weeks. The investors have been calling for measures to pull up prices after indices plunged to lows on consecutive trading days early last week.

On Dec 5 last year, the DSE general index reached a record 8918 points. Unrest began in the market the following day, and December and January saw free fall.

Following the budget in June when the government allowed undisclosed income into the market, the bourses saw a month of improvement. However, the fluctuations returned by the end of July.
From:www.bdnews24.com