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Market probe chief slams govt over inaction

Market probe chief slams govt over inaction

December 12, 2011 | 12:00 AM

Investors block a road during a protest in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Sunday. Retail investors have taken to the streets, halting traffic in the wake of a continuing fall in share prices, witnesses said

By Mizan RahmanDhaka
The head of a panel probing into the stock market scam yesterday criticised the government for not acting on the panel’s report. Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled said that the government was probably trying to hide something about the capital market and for this reason it was talking about liquidity crisis in the market.“It’s a wrong assumption. It’s not liquidity crisis, but a crisis of confidence. The government is showing the liquidity crisis in the market as it’s trying to hide something,” Khaled said.He was speaking at a seminar arranged by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a leading civil society think-thank, on ‘the state of the capital market and recent policy initiatives’. Khaled criticised the government for not taking action against persons whose names were mentioned in the probe report.“Those held responsible for the stock market scam are powerful people, but who is the strongest - the government or the manipulators,” he questioned.Khaled urged the government to concentrate on bringing back confidence instead of talking about liquidity crisis.The CPD yesterday said Bangladesh’s capital market is “indeed in grave crisis” and made several recommendations to ensure medium term stability.

December 12, 2011 | 12:00 AM