Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, inaugurated Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) today. The united stock exchange has been formed after the merger between the stock exchanges from Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
Propakistani reported on the merger back in August. A memorandum of understanding was expected to be signed soon after that but the whole process took a few months before being finally launched today.
Ishaq Dar, while addressing the inauguration ceremony in Islamabad, said:
Today is a historic day for Pakistan. It took 15 years to make the Pakistan Stock Exchange dream come true. The KSE will now be called PSX. The minister said that Pakistan can progress by resolving its issues with honesty and sincerity. Government’s vision is very clear on law-making. With honesty and sincerity everything can be done.
The ceremony was attended by high-ranking government officials, foreign dignitaries, other individuals related to the matter and international fund managers.
The integration of these stock exchanges has completed the second phase of the Stock Exchange Demutualisation and Integration Act 2012, which was jointly approved by the parliament.
Ishaq Dar said that the government has developed a roadmap to revive Pakistan’s economy and nurture it by working on all industrial sectors of the country. He reassured by saying:
We have foreign exchange reserves for at least six months. Around 22 international institutions have recognised the Pakistani economy as a stable macro economy.
He said that the merger will pave the way for more foreign investment interest.
The merger will have positive effects in the growth and development of the country as it will encourage participation in investment and assist retail across the country. Other than expanding the investor access and participation, the integration will enhance operational and informational efficiency of the market. The stock exchange will be centralised thus transparency and liquidity will improve.
Joining the three stock exchanges will help stabilise the Karachi stock market as it was greatly affected by the global financial turmoil of recent times. Inheritance of Lahore and Islamabad stock exchanges will increase the stock values, increase the stock exchange’s resilience and bring Pakistan’s stock exchange on par with global markets. It will also eliminate local stock exchange competition thus all efforts will be towards consolidating each other in the future. Traders will also benefit as they will now be able to trade shares locally which was otherwise restricted to certain companies only.
Good to hear!
It’s funny no one understands the matter as this has benefitted only Lahore n Islamabad brokers whose cards got really expensive while Karachi brokers who have genuine valuable cards will face dilution in their value.. Just a trick to get everything in Islamabad ..