ISLAMABAD: The government has integrated Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) and Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) by forming one national stock exchange to be called as “Pakistan Stock Exchange” (PSE).
In this regard, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed at Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Thursday by the chairmen of respective de-mutualisation committees.
Minister for Finance, Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Chairman SECP, Zafar Hijazi, Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Saeed Ahmad also witnessed the signing ceremony.
Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister said that the government was working hard to improve the capital market outlook for attracting the foreign direct investment in the country for the prosperity of the country.
The minister reiterated the government’s resolve for creating a strong, vibrant and competitive financial and capital market for building a strong economy in order to further strengthen the national economy.
Dar termed the scheme of integration a win-win situation for all stakeholders and a landmark achievement which would go a long way towards sustainable development of capital market of the country.
He appreciated SECP and assured full support of the government to achieve divestment of shares of public sector enterprises to get the full benefits of the exercise.
The government, he said was determined to promote standards and quality for the corporate sector and capital market in collaboration with SECP adding that government was also working to implement a robust reforms agenda with focus on strengthening good governance practices.
Dar also lauded SECP for getting Pakistan’s index reclassified in upcoming annual market classification review of MSCI and pushed the SECP for reclassification of Pakistan’s capital market as MSCI emerging market.
The minister also reaffirmed the government’s resolve to build forex reserves by $21 billion by the end of current calendar year besides narrowing the gap between income and expenditure of the government.
He said that fight against terrorism and extremism was heading towards success and expressed the hope that soon country would become a peaceful and prosperous country.
The minister said that after achieving the macro-economic stability, the government was focusing on growth and set a target to get 7 percent GDP growth rate during next two years.
For achieving higher growth rate, the government has initiated work on the development of mega energy generation projects to generate about 24,000 megawatt electricity.
He said that about 10,000MW electricity would be added in national grid by the end of December, 2017 which would help in GDP Growth and economic uplift of the country.
About the recent fluctuation in international capital market, the minister said that it was temporary and local economy has strength with strong fundamentals the ability to absorb these shocks.
He called for avoiding the speculations and panic as it was a routine exercise in capital market and would soon be settled.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman SECP, Zafar Hijazi said that SECP has achieved successes including de-mutualisation and legislation and played a key role to make the capital market of the country as hub of foreign investment.
He informed that the integration process was not a new as many developed economies like Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia have one capital market and recently India has also merged its 23 stock exchanges into single stock exchange.
