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Published : 22 Sep 2025, 06:02 PM
Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed has called for investing government employees’ pension funds in the stock market.
Speaking at a seminar on Monday, he said: “Large projects and new financing usually require risk sharing. What is risk sharing? You have to buy bonds, you have to buy equity.
“But in Bangladesh, we go to banks, take loans from there, and finance from there. That is what usually happens. From that perspective, as the governor pointed out, we must bring pensions into the stock market.”
However, he also highlighted the risks of investing pension funds in the market.
“Pension funds are considered public funds. The government has obligations here. It is not like private funds,” he said, adding that the government must take responsibility if public funds are used for market financing.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur said that long-term financing through pensions could help raise demand for bonds.
“The public pension system can be considered a source of long-term investment and can create demand for bonds,” he said.
The governor also supported making savings certificates “tradable”.
“The government can take quick steps if it wishes. Savings certificates are now partly linked with the market, but they must be made fully tradable. This will benefit customers, create a secondary market, and increase liquidity. With a little political will, this can be done,” he said.
Ahsan added that Bangladesh Bank and the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission are working on bond market development and will soon place recommendations before the interim government.
“Both conventional and sukuk (Islamic bonds) segments are included in the recommendations,” Mansur said.
