Ahsan Habib

Says Meghna Bank MD and CEO Sohail RK Hussain

By removing the floor price for nearly half of the companies listed in the country in December while retaining the regulatory measure for the rest, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has effectively moved to a dual system. 

As the US dollar shortage persists, businesses in Bangladesh are increasingly finding it difficult to open letters of credit (LCs) since banks can’t supply the adequate American greenback needed to finance imports.

Bangladesh’s largest retail chain Shwapno registered 31 per cent year-on-year growth in sales in the July to December period of 2022-23.

Bangladesh’s largest retail chain Shwapno registered 31 per cent year-on-year growth in sales in the July to December period of 2022-23.

In the face of a soaring cost of living, many low and middle-income people in Bangladesh have either ditched branded products or switched to smaller packs, causing consumer goods producers and marketers to record a slowdown in sales in 2022. 

The pharmaceuticals industry, which has made life-saving drugs available at lower costs, is facing troubles in opening letters of credit (LCs) to import much-needed raw materials and capital machinery owing to the US dollar crunch. 

Four state-run commercial banks (SCBs) in Bangladesh are struggling to generate revenue from their core business of lending due to voluminous non-performing loans and the lending rate ceiling.

Delta Brac Housing Finance Corporation, a listed non-bank financial institution in Bangladesh, recently announced that it has decided to change its name by adding PLC as a suffix. 

While most stocks in Bangladesh remain bearish, some surged in the first half of January fuelled by rumours.

Most of the global stock indices plunged last March when the war between Russia and Ukraine escalated but they took only two months before bouncing back despite the conflict-induced turmoil worldwide.

One-third of the listed banks in Bangladesh, especially the shariah-based lenders, suffered a drop in profits in the last five years due to the deterioration in their asset quality, higher non-performing loans, and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. 

In another financial felony in Bangladesh, UFS Asset Management has embezzled Tk 158 crore in investors’ funds, according to a probe of the stock market regulator.

Major indices of the stock market in Bangladesh mostly saw decline throughout the outgoing year while turnover also took a plunge amid the gloomy economic scenario.

The number of beneficiary owners (BO) accounts has decreased over the last six months in spite of the advent of 60 new stockbrokers in the stock market amidst expectations that the number of investors would increase. 

The biggest challenge the stock market faced in the outgoing year was floor price as the artificial mechanism made the whole market illiquid and shattered investors’ confidence amid the gloomy economic trends. 

Brokerage houses are in dire straits meeting their operating costs as low turnovers are leaving a massive dent in their incomes.

Unusual investment decisions made by the state-run Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) could inflict a loss of Tk 438 crore on taxpayers as the funds have either turned into default loans or remained largely unrealised, according to an audit report.

Once one of the most sought-after securities, banking stocks in Bangladesh are now struggling as investors have stayed away from them for the last couple of months due to a lack of trust in their financial reports,

Most of the blue-chip stocks such as British American Tobacco, Grameenphone, Renata, and Singer Bangladesh are failing to attract investors even though they are up for grabs at floor prices as investors fear that the market will fall if the floor price is lifted given the current gloomy economic scenario.