Capital Market
Scammers’ punishment can restore confidence of investors: economists
Ensuring punishment for the people involved in capital market scam can restore confidence of investors which is essential to bring back the country’s stock market on right track, economists said on Saturday. At a session of a seminar on ‘Vision 2030: a framework for economic policy making and strategy formulation in a pluralistic democracy,’ they said the government should find out the reasons why the market took so much time to become normal once it plunged.
The newly-formed Bangladesh Economists’ Forum organised the two-day seminar at Radission Blu Water Garden Hotel in the capital.
Former adviser to the caretaker government AB Mirza Azizul Islam said the people involved in the capital market scam should be tried under speedy tribunal to restore confidence of the investors.
The government should strengthen the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission so that it can bring the culprits responsible for scam to the book, he said.
Coordination between Bangladesh Bank and the BSEC is needed for the greater stability in the stock market, he said.
Centre for Policy Dialogue executive director Mustafizur Rahman said people were not informed of the reasons behind the capital market crash even after few years had passed.
At another session on macro and financial policies, planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the country needed only one public bank to conduct government activities and the remaining banks should be restructured.
‘There is no necessity of so many banks in the public sector. Sonali Bank alone can perform the government financial activities,’ he said.
Regarding the capital market, he said the satisfactory economic situation prevailed in the country could not influence the share market because of lack of investors’ confidence.
Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman said banks could not provide long-term loan to the entrepreneurs as the savings in the local banks were short-termed and such loan could not help the entrepreneurs.
He said the problem related to long-term loan should be removed for the sake of economic prosperity in the country.
Former Bangladesh Bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed said decentralisation of the government and economy was needed for balanced and sustainable economic development of the country.
The government will have to create scope of earning at local level for the people along with increasing power of local government institutions, he said.
United Nations senior adviser Hamid Rashid said Bangladesh needed to increase its GDP growth rate above 8 per cent from the existing around 6 per cent for achieving middle-income country status.
-With New Age input
