Money to be brought back: Finance Minister

Dhaka, Jan 23 (bdnews24.com) – The government will take necessary measures to bring  part of the money back into the share market that the merchant banks withdrew as profit,  says the finance minister. "Part of the money will be brought back and the market will reopen on Tuesday.  I hope it'll perform well," A M A Muhith said on Sunday evening, after a back-to-back meeting on the market. He said the government would form a committee to investigate the recent market crash, and decided to withdraw the index circuit-breaker and suspend the  transaction of Mobil Jamuna and MI Cement. "The investigation committee will be formed within 15 days," he said. Earlier in the morning, the minister held a meeting with stakeholders at the state guesthouse Padma, where they put forward a series of recommendations. Muhith claimed that he did not think the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had failed to control the market and the regulator would formulate a long-term directive on margin loan ratio. "The market price earning ratio is 23 and the index is at 6,300 level and I don't think the market index is too high as far as PE ratio is concerned," Muhith said. The fundamentals of the market are good and it is also comparable to neighbouring countries, he added. "It's baseless that money is getting siphoned off from the capital market," Muhith said  adding, "A small amount of money has been withdrawn from the market and actions  will be taken against them." Economic advisor Mashiur Rahman, Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman,  finance division secretary Mohammad Tareq, Securities and Exchange Commission  chairman Ziaul Haque Khandkar, banking division secretary Mohammad Shafiqur  Rahman Patwary were present at the meeting.