Small investors’ woes unlikely to end before national polls: Analysts
UNB, Dhaka :
Small investors in the stock market are frustrated as their wait for a good time gets delayed by the country’s ongoing political unrest.
The political impasse over who should oversee the upcoming national polls is thwarting the stock market’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war.
The small investors’ shares are stuck on the floor price (minimum sale rate) and overall economic downfall. This has been painful for many unfortunate small investors in the capital markets, according to market analysts.
Policymakers and the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) paint a rosy picture for small investors saying that stock markets will rebound with the enlistment of new companies and the injection of big investments. But the situation for the small investors seems to be hopeless.
A large number of shareholders have remained stuck with their investment in the capital market for over a decade amid fading hopes.
“No one, not even the regulator or stock market authorities pay heed to their screams,” Abdul Latif, a grocery owner and one of the affected investors, told UNB in a broken voice. He said he invested Tk13 lakh in 2011 to buy shares of different companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
After graduation in 1998, Latif found no suitable job and then started a small business in the Motjheel area in 2002 with support from his father-in-law. He made a good profit in the business and invested money in the share market.
In 2010 Latif invested around Tk13 lakh of which 5 lakh was his own and 8 lakh borrowed from relatives. All of his investment was stuck in shares of different companies due to a big scam in the capital market in 2011.
Like Latif, thousands of investors lost their hard-earned capital in 2011, and after that, some were able to gain part of the capita. But most of them left the capital market losing nearly all investment.
Many of such investors are still in the market hoping for a rebound in the DSE, but without any good news.
There is no sign of lifting the floor price before the next election. However, economists say that people do not have confidence in the market. BSEC advises investors to be patient until the general election is held by January next.
Dr ABM Mirza Azizul Islam, an economist and a former adviser of a caretaker government, told UNB that there has been a crisis in investors’ confidence in the stock market for a long time.
“To this are added various economic crises, the international situation, and everything including elections and national politics,” he said.
As a result, first of all, steps should be taken to eliminate the trust crisis. In this case, trust should be ensured by establishing good governance, he said.
That is, the investors have to be given the assurance that if someone steals their money through manipulation, they will be prosecuted.
