BANGLADESH

Local government minister Syed Ashraful Islam has said stating anything about the country's share market situation will not be a 'right thing' to do until this government's tenure expires.

"It won't be right to say anything about the share market now. Right after the government's term expires, it will be clear how the share market was in the last five years," the ruling Awami League general secretary said at the party's central working committee meeting on Saturday evening.

"Neither the government nor anyone else is controlling the share market. It's a free market," Ashraf said during his introductory speech at the meeting at Awami League president and prime minister Sheikh Hasina's official residence Ganabhaban.

He said, "No government of any country is the share market regulatory body. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the market regulatory body."

"The price of the shares will rise and fall eventually. Economists are yet to determine the actual cause behind the fall and rise in the share market," Ashraf added.

The meeting at Ganabhaban had begun at 6:45pm.