Amir Khosru's first budget lays out reform agenda for capital market

Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has unveiled a comprehensive capital market reform agenda in the FY2026-27 budget proposal, outlining steps to make Bangladesh's bourse deeper, more transparent, diversified, and investor-friendly.

Presenting the budget speech in the JS, the minister said unnecessary complexities, delays, excessive costs, and regulatory ambiguities in the listing process will be reduced to make it easier for promising companies to enter the capital market.

"The IPO process will be made time-bound and technology-driven," he said, adding that application submission, document verification, fee payment, amendments, and approvals will all be completed online through a unified digital platform connecting issuing companies, issue managers, stock exchanges, CDBL, and the regulator.

The minister proposed expanding the participation of long-term institutional investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, asset management companies (AMCs), and mutual funds.

He also called for expanding the corporate bond market and introducing municipal bonds to finance local government and urban infrastructure development.

For long-term project financing, both public and private, the budget proposes greater use of financing instruments such as bonds, sukuk, and infrastructure funds.

The minister said information systems across BSEC, stock exchanges, CDBL, banks, brokers, and related institutions will be further integrated.

The government also plans to explore the possibility of regional dual listing for domestic companies on regional stock exchanges.

A professional liability framework and liability insurance for capital market intermediaries, including auditors, valuators, and issue managers, will also be introduced, Khosru said.

Notably, the settlement cycle for capital market transactions will be reduced from the current T+2 to T+0 in a phased manner.

On foreign investment, the minister said repatriation and reinvestment of profits from legitimate foreign investments, and proceeds from the sale of securities purchased through Non-Resident Investors Taka Accounts, will be processed within a single working day.

The proposed budget sets total expenditure at Tk 9,38,000 crore, equivalent to 13.7 percent of GDP and Tk 1,48,000 crore higher than the previous fiscal's budget.