Kathmandu, June 22

The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has formed a committee to conduct a study on how to reopen the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse), which has been closed since the lockdown was imposed by the government to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The committee which was formed on Sunday by the regulatory body comprises of representatives from SEBON, Nepse, investor groups, broker associations and CDSC.

Bhishma Raj Dhungana, chairperson of SEBON, informed that the committee has been given three days to provide suggestions on how the secondary market could be reopened. Meanwhile, investors have been saying that even if the market is opened now there will be a lot of people who will not be able to make transactions.

According to the board, the study team will also look into bringing a possible relief package for the secondary market.

Earlier, the board had directed Nepse to fully integrate its system with banks and financial institutions so that real-time transactions can be made.

As the government has eased its lockdown modality, SEBON and Nepse were earlier preparing to reopen the secondary market from last week, but due to the pressure from investor associations and rising cases of people being infected with the COV- ID-19, the board could not take a decision to that effect.

To stop the spread of the coronavirus, the government had imposed the lockdown from March 24 and extended it phase-wise till June 14.

However, the government has eased the lockdown modality partially from June 15, yet concerned stakeholders have still not been able to take any concrete decision as to how and when to reopen Nepse.

The secondary market has been closed during the lockdown period except for a couple of days when it was reopened on May 12.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 23, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.