Ahsan Habib

The share prices of Sea Pearl Beach Resort and Spa Limited soared from Tk 60 to Tk 320 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) within just one year after frenzied speculation in 2023 that a foreign investor would buy a significant stake in the company.

Stocks in Bangladesh plummeted to a four-year low yesterday, just a day after the stock market regulator formed an inquiry committee to investigate the reasons behind the market’s sharp decline.

The stock market index has been on a downward trajectory for the past two months, as a brief surge following the August political changeover quickly fizzled out.

Unlike other companies in Bangladesh, banks and non-bank financial institutions have not been fully adhering to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), so the real scenario of the financial sector is hidden from public view.

Alleged discrepancies in financial records and subsequent board restructuring and non-payment of dividends to investors over the past five years have done little to dissuade Uttara Finance and Investments from going for lavish expenditures this year.

After a long time, foreign investors are showing renewed interest in buying shares of listed companies in Bangladesh as they hope good governance will return to the local stock market following the recent political changeover.

Bangladesh could increase its output in the manufacturing, service and farming sectors by up to 29 percent simply by bringing more women into the workforce, according to the World Bank.

The Washington-based multilateral lender’s Business Ready (B-Ready) report, which was released yesterday, also places Bangladesh in the fourth tier of five stages for public service delivery, indicating weaker performance in this area too

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has alleged that manipulators were fuelling protests against the regulator to prevent it from taking a stand against corruption and reforming the stock market.

Bangladesh can join hands with Malaysia to develop a sector that caters to global semiconductor industries, which can play a vital role in increasing export earnings, said Shabbir A Khan, president of the Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BMCCI).

Over the past 15 years, the country’s economy presented a number of marvels, including over 6 percent growth on an average per annum. But, its stock market showed a sharp contrast: sluggish, dry and in decline.

The stock market regulator formulated a large number of policies, rules and regulations and passed orders in the last 15 years citing the best interests of investors.

The way that the stock market has been run over the past 15 years under the Sheikh Hasina-led government can be best summarised as facilitative to the manipulation of stock prices.

Over the past 15 years, investors have fled the market, initial public offerings (IPOs) have been scarce and capital market growth has fallen short of expectations. Despite this dry market, the number of stock intermediaries entering the market increased steadily.

The stock market regulator approved 127 firms for listing in the past 14 years, allowing their transition from private to public companies. However, the subsequent outcomes are disheartening as most of these companies showed declined performance rather than growth.

United Commercial Bank (UCB) PLC is on the verge of incurring losses of around Tk 75 crore as one-third of its total share market investment has been on a lone stock that has undergone price manipulation.

Per capita foreign debt of Bangladesh more than doubled in the last eight years, according to official data, as economists attribute the hike to unplanned foreign-funded projects and corruption, ultimately ballooning the liability on low-income people, including the extremely poor.

What does it take to manage  undistributed money of stock investors and hand it over to rightful recipients? You appear to be wrong if the answer is simply sincere effort.

City Bank PLC is investigating how and why it spent about Tk 86 crore, or roughly one-third of its total market exposure, on purchasing shares of Sea Pearl Beach Resort and Spa Ltd in 2023, according to bank officials.

The government has requested China to lower the interest rates on existing Chinese loans to 1 percent and extend the repayment period to 30 years.