ICB to inject Tk 1,000cr into market

The Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) will support the stock market by buying as much shares as possible from the secondary market on the back of Tk 1,000 crore it is raising, said its managing director yesterday.

Md Abul Hossain said the state-run investment enterprise has received Tk 200 crore from Sonali Bank by issuing bonds and would get another Tk 800 crore from four other public banks very soon.

“We will invest all the money into the market,” Hossain told a meeting with the DSE Brokers Association (DBA) at the ICB office in Dhaka.

He said the stock market was now big and the ICB did not have adequate funds, factors which made it impossible for the enterprise to provide the support alone.

So, if another four or five enterprises like the ICB can be formed and 20 to 25 market makers designed, the market will get enough support, he added.

Shakil Rizvi, president of the DBA, said many stocks which had performed well were now at a lower position although the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio was also very lucrative. The PE ratio of the market is about 12 at the moment.

But general investors are suffering from a crisis of confidence which can be regained through market support, he said.