JS panel wants undisclosed money in stocks

The parliamentary standing committee on the finance ministry will again recommend the finance minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, to allow legalisation of undisclosed money on the capital market, now hit by liquidity crisis, in the budget for the next financial year.

'I think that the opportunity for investing undisclosed money in the capital market would be included in the budget,' the committee chairman, AHM Mostafa Kamal, told reporters after a meeting with Dhaka Stock Exchange directors at the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel on Tuesday

'We will recommend the finance minister at the standing committee meeting on Thursday to allow investment of undisclosed money in the capital market,' the committee chairman said.

Although the standing committee on the finance ministry had already recommended allowing investment of undisclosed money in the capital market before the budget proposal was made, Muhith did not keep the provision in the budget proposal for the 2011–12 financial year.

The minister proposed the budget in the parliament on June 9 with a provision to allow legalisation of undisclosed money in treasury bonds and infrastructure development fund by paying 10 per cent tax.

Sources in the finance ministry said that some of the standing committee members had approached the minister in the past week to include the provision in the budget before its passage by June 30, but Muhith showed no interest.

Both Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges have demanded a similar facility for the share market.

Kamal, however, told reporters on Tuesday that the committee would meet the finance minister for discussion of making the budget capital market friendly.

He hoped that the finance minister would understand the need for allowing investment of undisclosed money in the stock market.

Kamal said that they had discussed with DSE leaders on how to overcome the current crisis in the capital market.

He said that the people responsible for the market debacle should be punished. 'But, first, we need to build confidence among the general investors.'

Kamal, who was also linked with January's stock market debacle by an investigation, said that it was now an appropriate time to invest in the market.

He said that because of the inaction of banks and non-banking financial institutions, the market was facing a liquidity crisis and hoped that the banks and NBFIs would invest in the market after the budget.

He observed the market will be stable once the Securities and Exchange Commission takes full control of the market.

'The PE [price-earning] ratio is now very low in the market. If I had money, I would have invested now,' he said.

Among others committee members, Ashraf Ali, Farida Rahman, MA Mannan and Abdur Rahman were present.

The DSE president, Shakil Rizvi, senior vice-president Ahsanul Islam and vice-president Md Shahjahan also attended.

Source : New Age

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