Kathmandu, March 30

Trading activities at the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) have been halted for another one week. After the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) on Sunday directed Nepse to shut down business for another week, the board meeting of Nepse today has decided to close the market till April 7.

“We are not in a position to open Nepse due to the lockdown,” s a i d Bhishma Raj Dhungana, chairman of SEBON, adding, “So we have directed Nepse to close the market for a week.”

Chandra Singh Soud, chief executive officer of Nepse, said that the market would remain closed for another week as per the direction of SEBON. “If the situation does not settle down quickly and the board asks us to extend the closure then Nepse could be closed for more number of days,” he stated.

The share market has been closed since last Monday under the direction of the board.

In a bid to stem the possible spread of the coronavirus pandemic, SEBON had earlier directed Nepse to suspend trading in the share market from March 22 but at the time Nepse had blatantly flouted the direction of the SEBON and opened the market.

It was only after SEBON warned of taking stringent action against Nepse, was the trading finally suspended from March 23.

On March 19, after discussions with the officials of Nepse, various investor associations and brokerage companies, all the parties had agreed to halt the service temporarily.