DHAKA, Jan 9, 2025 (BSS) - Mominul Islam, chairman of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), today said the number of investors in the market has come down by half in the last 10 years.

"In the last 10 years, a weak IPO market worth Tk 650 crore has come. Good companies are coming in a very few. The number of investors in the market has come down by half in the last 10 years. There are even fewer active investors,” he said.

The DSE chairman came up with the comments at a press conference on ‘Present Situation of Stock Market and Way Forward’ at Dhaka Club in the city.

Mominul Islam said the capital market has contracted drastically, failing to play the role it was supposed to play in the financial sector.

“The irregularities and inefficiency we have nurtured for a long time have kept the capital market from being positive,” he added.

 The DSE chairman highlighted that one of the units to measure the quality of the capital market is the amount of foreign investment.

 Currently, the amount of foreign investment has come down to below 1.0 percent, he added.
 He said the capital market will hold the position of leading and coordinating skilled and trained manpower that will be needed to take the DSE forward.

“We are recruiting manpower with full leadership qualities. We hope that the confidence in the market will be better than before, and investors will come back again. IT security audit is very important. We are revitalizing the DSE website, especially working to digitize the IPO. The bond market is also a management problem, we are working in coordination with the BSEC," he added.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Chairman AKM Habibur Rahman said, “The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) is not trying to impose anything on us. We are working cooperatively."

DSE Brokers Association (DBA) Chairman Saiful Islam said that there was no good sign in a decade where professional people are involved in the development of the capital market.

However, “Various positive steps have been taken as a result of pressure from various electronic and print media. It is playing a positive role in the market," he pointed out.