Stocks none of Muhith's business, please!

Dhaka, Oct 30 – Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has said he does not want to talk about the share market.

"It's a SEC (Security and Exchange Commission) business, not mine," he told reporters on Sunday.

His comments came in response to journalists' query on the latest slump in the stocks market as he emerged from a meeting with the Japanese ambassador H E Shiro Sadoshima at the Secretariat.

On Sunday, the Dhaka Stock Exchange benchmark index lost 231.65 points or 4.36 percent to slip to 5077.12 points. Last week, the index shed 237 points to stand at 5308.79 points at close on Thursday.

Muhith has been facing criticism from various quarters, including ruling Awami League MPs, for his expressions of frustration over continuously falling market.

Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta and Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim launched a tirade against Muhith on Thursday saying he is not allowed to avoid the matter by saying 'I don't understand share market'.

On Oct 18, a frustrated Muhith had said, "A slew of measures have been put in place to make the market steady. Still, it's not returning to its normal self. I don't know how it will be set right."

The share market slump that began in December last year has spurred demonstrations by small investors. Thay have also been demanding resignation of the finance minister and the Bangladesh Bank governor.

Since July 25, when the slide resumed, the DSE general index has risen in just four trading sessions.

On July 20, Muhith had said the stock market was moving towards stability. "It's going to be rather stable, though it'll now fluctuate a little." On Aug 6, he said that those expecting a rise in the share market every day were 'insane'.

The next day, he termed the demonstrators 'speculators'.

CALL FOR MORE INVESTMENT

After the meeting with the Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh, Muhith told reporters, "Japan is one of the biggest development partners for us. But financial relation between us is not vast. Investment and trade rate is very low which Japan is interested in increasing."

He said, "Japanese prime minister will lead a business delegation to Bangladesh next year. I hope the visit will take the relationship between the countries to a new high."

The minister said even after such devastating natural disasters in Japan, Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) would still provide the promised financing for the Padma bridge project.

"The Japanese ambassador has said that there is no problem with the JICA funding. They will provide the pledged funding."

On Oct 10, the World Bank temporarily suspended its funding for the project following charges of corruption in river dredging, appointment of consultants and preliminary selections.

The World Bank has promised $1.2-billion financing for the country's longest bridge over the Padma river.

The $2.9-billion bridge will connect the northwest of the country to the capital Dhaka and Chittagong port.

Apart from the global lender, JICA will give Bangladesh $415 million, Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will give $140 million and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will give $615 million for the project. The government will spend the rest of money from its coffers.

The 10-kilometre bridge will be the longest in Asia. Six kilometres of the bridge will be built over the river while four kilometres on the land to link the country's central region with the South.
from:www.bdnews24.com