Introduction of commodity exchange to eliminate under, over-invoicing: BSEC Chairman

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Chairman Prof Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam has said the scope for under-invoicing and over-invoicing can be eliminated by introducing the commodity exchange in the country.

“Work is going on to introduce commodity exchange in the country. If commodity exchange is introduced, then it will be possible to see both the international market and the scenario in the local market while staying inside the country,” he said.

The BSEC Chairman said this while addressing as the chief guest in a discussion titled “Problems and Challenges of Capital Market in Bangladesh” organised by the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF), at its auditorium in the capital’s Paltan area on Monday, according to UNB.

The BSEC Chairman mentioned that if the commodity exchange is launched in the country, then anyone can know the price of rice in Ghana while staying in Bangladesh as well as which countries want to take Bangladeshi RMG items at what price.

“With commodity exchange, we’ll be able to see the international market and the local market while staying at home for which there will be no scope for under-invoicing and over-invoicing,” he noted.

Turning to the capital market situation, Shibli said that Bangladesh did not receive such a shock as it was supposed to experience owing to the global condition.

He said although institutional investors occupy around 80 to 90 per cent of the capital market across the globe, the situation is totally reversed in the country as around 80 per cent of investors in the capital market here are small investors.

“We need to take necessary measures to give protection to the small investors. That’s why we’ve taken a temporary measure through floor price. But it’s not a permanent measure,” he added.

DSE Chairman Eunusur Rahman while highlighting the various challenges of the capital market said that the number of knowledgeable investors in the country is very small.

CSE Chairman Asif Ibrahim said that there is no commodity exchange in Bangladesh considering the overall size of the economy. “We’ll ink an agreement very soon with the Indian multi-commodity exchange. We’ve already sent the draft rules to BSEC in this regard. If we get approval, then hopefully we’ll be able to launch here commodity exchange,”

Former President of Bangladesh Association of Publicly Listed Companies (BAPLC) Azam J. Chowdhury, and Vice President of Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA) Md. Moniruzzaman also spoke at the function.