The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The ongoing global economic recession in no way will affect Bangladesh's stock market as it has no link with the international capital markets, bourse operators said yesterday.

"We've got only 2.5 per cent foreign portfolio investment which does not matter in any case. So, our investors should not have any reason to get panicked or worried," Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) Chief operating officer (CEO) Salahuddin Ahmed Khan told newsmen at a press conference at his office.

He said DSE does not have any significant foreign portfolio investment and historically it has no link with the big-venture international market of the capitalist world.

His observations came amid a sharp fall in the DSE benchmark index, which he said "might be an outcome of the panic" in view of the American financial market crash.

Khan said the current fallout of the nosedived US and European economies in particular is the result of the credit-based banking system, where banks were given unrestricted livery to do credit business.

But in Bangladesh, banking business is well-regulated and its mortgage system is also very strong, he observed.

Rather, Khan said, after the crisis in the US and European economies, there is a scope for Bangladesh garment sector to be benefited more.

He said Bangladesh exports very low-end garments to the USA and European markets, which account for only 20 per cent of the total demand for apparels.

"Because, most of the people use fashion wears, which Bangladesh does not export. So, our scope is very few to be affected," he noted.

Executive Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Farhad Ahmed also echoed the DSE chief's words of solace at the press conference. He said the Bangladesh capital market is fully based on local investors, and so it is immune.