Include stock business under stimulus package: DSE

‘Being closed and having no income, we (brokerage houses) are now in a bad situation’

Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) Director Minhaz Mannan Emon on Sunday urged the government to include capital market under the stimulus package of  Tk72,750 crore  to help investors and traders survive amid coronavirus crisis.

The director, in a statement, requested the government to provide short term financial assistance at low interest rate or incentive for stock brokerage houses, merchant banks and asset management firms.

“Being closed and having no income, we (brokerage houses) are now in a bad situation. Even we are worried about our employees’ salaries,” he said and added that the capital market had been facing crisis since last year.

“Under the situation, we need incentive or financial help like other sectors,” he said.

The county’s twin bourses — Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) — extended their ongoing closure till April 25, in accordance with the extended general holidays declared by the government.

The DSE director said: “such a long time closure of the market is completely a new experience. We were never familiar with such a dire situation. It is very difficult for us to keep the market closed”.

Meanwhile, the stock market regulator, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), launched new circuit breaker last month to halt the free-fall that yielded positive outcome in the indexes.

It also set a floor price for every stock to keep the market buoyant.