Such opportunity will help the country's capital market to become more vibrant, officials of the bourse told a post-budget press conference in the capital.

On June 4, the government offered whitening of legally earned but undisclosed money until July 31. A government circular issued said the provision will not impose any punishment but fine. The circular stated a taxpayer would have to pay in penalty five percent of the total amount to be whitened in addition to the tax at regular rates.

Welcoming the proposed budget, the DSE said from the budget speech it is clear that Mongla Port will become a vibrant port again.

"We request the government to consider the proposal of making Mongla Port and Chittagong Port into public limited companies and raise a part of their funds to reconstruct/develop these ports through capital market to ensure public participation for greater degree of transparency and accountability," said DSE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Salahuddin Ahmed Khan.

Referring to the government proposals of taking liability of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation's loss of Tk 7,523 crore and allocating Tk 300 crore to meet the deficit of Power Development Board, he said the state-owned enterprises could be turned into holding companies.

Khan also said the government can set up a venture capital company with Tk 100 crore endowment fund, which is allocated for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), through which the government can raise more money from the capital market.

He said the proposal for offloading shares of a number of government companies in telecommunication, power and energy sector and offering tax incentives to the private sector telecommunication companies to offload their shares will strengthen the capital market.

He appreciated the government for offering 35 percent corporate tax on mobile phone operator companies if the companies are converted into public limited companies and traded on the stock exchanges. Otherwise, the corporate tax would be 45 percent.

The DSE CEO also thanked the government to keep the income from zero coupon bond out of tax saying that the measure will play a vital role in developing the bond market.

Among others, DSE President Abdullah Bokhari and Senior Vice-president Ahmed Rashid Lali spoke at the press conference.

CSE
Hailing the government for presenting a balanced and growth-oriented budget, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) urged the government to frame a policy to channel funds such as pension, provident and gratuity into stock market, according to a CSE statement.

The CSE also said deduction of tax at source from dividend payable by the registered company should be completely waived and deduction of tax at source from the trade value of the stock brokers should be reduced to 0.01 percent from 0.15 percent.

The bourse welcomed the government for its clear direction about offloading shares of a number of state-owned companies through share market and tax reduction facilities to encourage the private sector telecommunication companies to go public.

The CSE also lauded the government for abolishing advance tax on government bonds and exemption of income generated from zero-coupon bond from income tax.