Already allocates Tk 900cr for refinance scheme
The finance ministry may allocate another Tk 600 crore in soft loan for the capital market if the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission considers the fund
will bring good result to the market, said BSEC sources.
A BSEC official said the finance ministry was willing to allocate up to Tk 1,500 crore for the capital market from the government’s block allocation in the budget for the financial year 2013-2014.
Of the fund, Tk 900 crore have already been allocated for the refinance scheme to implement the compensation package for the small-scale investors affected by the stock market crash in 2010 and if needed, the rest of the fund could be disbursed as soft loans to the securities houses and merchants banks, he said.
The fund also could be issued against the Bangladesh Fund to increase the latter’s size and to support the capital market, he said.
Another BSEC official said the government was very keen to restore stability in the capital market.
‘That’s why the finance ministry is giving priority on the capital market and is willing to issue more fund for it.’
But, the BSEC is yet to decide whether the commission would accept the fund or not, the official said.
‘If it is received, how it could be utilised needs to be settled,’ he said.
Following prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s direction on Wednesday to release the fund for the stock market, the Bangladesh Bank and the finance ministry on Thursday asked the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh to collect the first phase of Tk 900 crore to implement the refinance scheme for the small-scale investors affected by the stock market crash in 2010.
The government in March 2012 announced the compensation package which also included waiver of interest on margin loans for the investors who suffered losses during the market crash in 2010-2011.
Earlier in April, the BSEC proposed the finance ministry Tk 1,266 crore in refinance for the capital market to restore investors’ confidence in the capital market and to implement the scheme for the affected small-scale investors.
A BSEC report which was sent to the finance ministry informing about the stock market refinance scheme said that only five merchant banks and brokerage houses, out of total 308, waived only Tk 16.78 crore in interest and rescheduled loans of Tk 274.58 crore in last one year.
Only 7,413 investors out of the total 9.53 lakh got the compensation, it said.
The BSEC report said that as the five organisations had already rescheduled Tk 274.58 crore, the remaining brokerage houses and merchant banks would need Tk 1,266.69 crore in refinance fund.
-With New Age input