Finance Minister Anwarul Karim Khosru said Bangladesh’s capital market could undergo a major positive transformation within the next year if the current momentum is maintained without any major setbacks. Speaking at World Investor Week 2026, organised by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) at Khamarbari in Dhaka, Khosru expressed confidence in the market’s improving trajectory.
He said the capital market was now in a considerably stronger position than before and that investor confidence was steadily returning.
The minister also noted that several large foreign companies had shown interest in investing in Bangladesh’s stock market.
“When the capital market was in the previous state, I was not sure how we could approach major foreign companies. But when we spoke with them, they showed clear interest. They are closely monitoring Bangladesh and have confidence in the country’s current leadership. They are expected to enter the Bangladesh market in the near future,” he said.
Calling on stakeholders to move beyond past challenges in the capital market, Khosru said that integrity and transparency required stronger self-regulation. He emphasized that every institution, including brokers, exchanges, investors and financial entities, should act as a self-regulator. “I do not believe in regulatory bodies,” he added.
Highlighting the importance of integrating the capital market into the broader economic system, he said that the National Board of Revenue (NBR), Bangladesh Bank and the capital market had previously operated largely as separate entities. “Now we are building an ecosystem where all these institutions will work together,” he said.
The minister also warned that businesses dependent on high-interest bank loans would struggle to survive in a competitive environment.
He said that both the government and private institutions often borrow from banks at high interest rates for even small funding needs, a practice that is not sustainable in the global market.
“Funding must be raised from the market, and the most effective avenue for that is the capital market. We are also working to strengthen the bond market,” he said.
Khosru said Bangladesh could not reach a trillion-dollar economy by 2034 by relying on borrowing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
“I have cancelled my meeting with the IMF. I told them clearly that the government is not bound to accept their conditions. We need $50 billion every year. How much can the IMF provide? And then we would have to accept conditions again. That is no longer the approach. We will raise funds from the market and conduct business,” he said.
Saying the government would not finance the operational needs of state enterprises, the minister argued that public funds should not be used to meet the commercial requirements of state-owned businesses. “Why should the government pay to buy aircraft? It cannot be that taxpayers’ money is provided while enterprises conduct business with it,” he said.
He added that the country’s financial architecture is being comprehensively overhauled and that the economy will become increasingly market-oriented in the coming period.
The minister also stated that the depth of the currently shallow capital market will be expanded to make the economy more market-driven.
