Tradings on both the stock exchanges are set to resume from May 31, after a 66-day break, due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Trading and settlement activities will resume on the day even if the countrywide general holidays for Covid-19 extend further, officials said.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) human resources department has sent letters to the head of all departments of the DSE to take preparations to start trading from May 31.
The Financial Express obtained a copy of the letter.
“The chairman of the DSE has instructed to take preparations to start trading and settlement activities of the bourse from May 31. In this regard, the DSE will resume its regular activities and all employees are requested to attend office from that day,” the letter said.
Trading and settlement activities on the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) will also resume on May 31, said a CSE official.
The newly-appointed chairman of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission Professor Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam said they will hold a commission meeting on May 28 where they shall decide finally about resumption of share trading.
He, however, said, trading will resume even if national holidays for Covid-19 continue.
As most of the Covid-19 affected countries in Europe and USA are running their capital market during lockdown, Bangladesh’s share trading should continue operation, he mentioned.
The country’s two bourses have been closed since March 26, as the government announced general holidays as part of its efforts to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
However, Bangladesh is the only country in the world now where stock trading remained closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The longest closure of the stock market since the Liberation War already hurt the image of the markets globally, said an analyst.
Small investors and brokerage houses have been badly affected due to the market closure for a prolonged period as the main income source of investors is the stock market, he said.
-Babul/RMC/