Progress Report on Tranche Release Bangladesh: Third Capital Market
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Progress Report on Tranche Release Project Number: 45253–002 Loan Number: 3318/3319 January 2020 Bangladesh: Third Capital Market Development Program (Second Tranche) Distribution of this document is restricted until it has been approved by the Board of Directors. Following such approval, ADB will disclose the document to the public in accordance with ADB’s Access to Information Policy. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 06 January 2020) Currency unit – taka (Tk) Tk1.00 = $0.01179 $1.00 = Tk84.780 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank BSEC – Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission CCP – central counterparty CDMC – Cash and Debt Management Committee CMDP – Capital Market Development Program CMT – Capital Market Tribunal CSE – Chittagong Stock Exchange DSE – Dhaka Stock Exchange FRC – Financial Reporting Council FRTB – floating rate treasury bond GDP – gross domestic product IAD – Internal Audit Department ICT – information and communication technology IDRA – Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority IPO – initial public offering NSC – national saving certificate TA – technical assistance NOTE (i) The fiscal year (FY) of the Government of Bangladesh and its agencies ends on 30 June. “FY” before a calendar year denotes the year in which the fiscal year ends, e.g., FY2019 ended on 30 June 2019. (ii) In this report, “$” refers to United States dollars. Vice-President Shixin Chen, Operations 1 Director General Hun Kim, South Asia Department (SARD) Director Takeo Konishi, Public Management, Financial Sector and Trade Division, SARD Team leader Takuya Hoshino, Financial Sector Specialist, SARD Team members Monica Mei Carino-Young, Project Analyst, SARD M. M. Zimran Khan, Associate Project Analyst, SARD Jackie Moreno, Senior Project Assistant, SARD Douglas Perkins, Principal Counsel, Office of the General Counsel Dongdong Zhang, Principal Financial Sector Specialist, SARD In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area CONTENTS Page I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1 II. RECENT MACROECONOMIC AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS.............................. 2 III. STATUS OF PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................ 3 A. Summary of Compliance Status .......................................................................... 3 B. Program Implementation ..................................................................................... 3 C. Review of the Associated Technical Assistance .................................................10 IV. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................10 V. THE PRESIDENT’S RECOMMENDATION ...................................................................12 APPENDIXES 1. Country Economic Indicators 13 2. Status of Second Tranche Policy Actions 14 3. Summary of Progress Under Design and Monitoring Framework 18 4. Bangladesh Capital Market Performance 22 I. INTRODUCTION 1. On 20 November 2015, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a program loan to Bangladesh totaling $250 million equivalent for the Third Capital Market Development Program (CMDP3). CMDP3 comprises (i) a program loan to support vital capital market reforms and (ii) an associated technical assistance (TA) grant of $700,000 to assist the implementation of key reform actions under the program.1 2. Capital markets are important for financial intermediation and resource mobilization, specifically for raising long-term financing and risk capital for infrastructure and entrepreneurial activities. Well-functioning capital markets can reduce the private sector’s dependency on bank financing. Bangladesh’s capital market needs to be larger, deeper, and more dynamic to encourage enough private sector investment to spur economic growth and enable the country to achieve middle-income status. The Government of Bangladesh has shown strong ownership of reforms that enable capital market development.2 Its Vision 2021 calls for capital markets to be further liberalized, reformed, and deepened to raise capital to support industry growth.3 ADB has been supporting this government-owned reform agenda through the Second Capital Market Development Program (CMDP2) and the follow-on CMDP3 since 2012. 3. CMDP2 was introduced after the turbulence in the stock market in December 2010 to regain market confidence and pull the capital market back onto a sustainable development path. The program first brought in market stabilization measures such as (i) regulations on margin lending and the equity exposure of banks; and (ii) stronger oversight by Bangladesh Bank (the banking regulator) and the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC, the securities regulator) as well as policy coordination between the two entities. Second, CMDP2 laid the foundation for sustainable market development by tackling structural deficiencies in a comprehensive and sequential manner. This resulted in a long-term national capital market master plan, with strong ownership of the government. 4 In addition, critical legislations and amendments to tax codes strengthened the policy framework for (i) new financial instruments, (ii) better corporate governance, (iii) reliable financial reporting and auditing, and (iv) stronger operational and financial efficiency of BSEC. The demutualization of the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges, undertaken through a special act with time-bound action plans, aligned the broader incentives of capital market development with those of brokers and dealers. Parliament passed the Financial Reporting Act (FRA) on 6 September 2015 to set up an independent regulatory agency, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), improve the quality of financial reporting, and upgrade accounting and auditing standards. The reform under the FRA was expected to promote more informed investment decisions based on reliable financial reports. 4. CMDP3 was introduced in 2015 to broaden and deepen the reform outreach and overcome the remaining constraints to sustainable market development. In fact, the government, 1 ADB. 2015. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Loan to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh for the Third Capital Market Development Program. Manila. 2 ADB’s first program for capital market development in Bangladesh was approved in 1997 to restore investor confidence, which was significantly damaged when the Bangladesh stock market crashed in 1996 because of excessive speculation. The program’s key achievements were: (i) strengthened market regulation and supervision, such as by strengthening regulatory authority of the Bangladesh Securities Exchange Commission; (ii) developed capital market infrastructure, including strengthened governance framework for market intermediaries, and (iii) modernized capital market support facilities, including establishment of automated depository and trading systems. 3 Government of Bangladesh, Planning Commission. 2012. Perspective Plan of Bangladesh 2010–2021. Dhaka. 4 Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission. 2012. Bangladesh Capital Market Development Master Plan 2012–2022. Dhaka. 2 in its 7th Five Year Plan, called for more measures to further improve the overall capital market performance with a strong emphasis on reducing malpractices and governance deficits.5 In line with the five-year plan, the government and ADB agreed to build on the stabilization measures introduced by CMDP2 and to support the timely implementation of the capital market development master plan. In particular, CMDP3 was to focus on the actual implementation of regulatory and institutional reforms mandated by the legislations introduced under CMDP2, such as demutualizing the two stock exchanges, establishing the FRC, strengthening the human resource capacity of BSEC, and operationalizing the Capital Market Tribunal (CMT). CMDP3 was considered critical in maintaining the reform momentum by continuing to take various actions and successfully delivering outputs with strong engagement by the different stakeholders. 5. The reforms under CMDP3 were implemented from January 2015 to November 2019. CMDP3 comprises an $80 million first tranche against 8 policy actions and a $170 million second tranche against 18 policy actions. The policy actions supported four program outputs: (i) strengthened market stability, (ii) enhanced market facilitation, (iii) enhanced supply measures, and (iv) enhanced demand measures. The first tranche was released upon loan effectiveness on 11 December 2015. While the release of the second and final tranche was originally expected 18 months after the first tranche (i.e., in June 2017), the program was extended to March 2020 to achieve a satisfactory fulfillment of the corresponding tranche release conditions. 6. This report focuses on the progress achieved under the second tranche. II. RECENT MACROECONOMIC AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS 7. Bangladesh has experienced strong economic growth since 2015 (Appendix 1). Its average annual real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was 7.2% during FY2015–FY2018, and accelerated to 7.9% in FY2018, driven by higher private sector consumption, private sector investment, and exports. Continued political