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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday has instructed authorities to gradually introduce potential government institutions to the stock market, with the finance department tasked to assess the feasibility.
This directive was given during her chairing of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting held at the NEC conference room in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
Following the meeting, Planning Division Senior Secretary SatyajitKarmakar briefed reporters, stating that the Prime Minister asked the finance ministry to take necessary steps to list government companies in the capital market.
Answering to a question, SatyajitKarmakar said that the Premier did not specify the names of the companies, but asked the Finance Division and the Finance Secretary to select potential government institutions and the concerned government companies after proper scrutiny before enlisting those in the capital market.
Supplementing on the Prime Minister’s directive, the Planning Minister termed it as an important decision and said that this would enhance the competitiveness of those government enterprises as they would be eventually able to minimize their expenditures.
Planning Minister Major General (Retd) MdAbdus Salam and State Minister for Planning MdShahiduzzamanSarker also spoke at the briefing, with Planning Commission members and concerned secretaries in attendance.
Furthermore, Karmakar informed that Sheikh Hasina directed to remove her name from the Khulna Medical College Hospital project and ordered against associating her name with any future projects.
Additionally, she instructed redirecting funds allocated for a university mural to other purposes.
He, however, said following requests from several ministers and secretaries and considering legal complexities, the ECNEC agreed to use the Prime Minister’s name for the Khulna Medical University.
“There will be many complications if the prime minister’s name is removed from the Khulna Medical University because the Parliament has already passed the act,” he added.
She also directed authorities to take careful consideration in future bridge construction to avoid disrupting river flow and to maintain bridge height.
During the meeting, the ECNEC approved 10 projects worth Tk 5,563.68 crore including establishing China-aided 150-bed Burn Unit at Chittagong Medical College Hospital, he added.
“Of the total project cost, Tk 5,203.21 crore will come from the government of Bangladesh portion while Tk 360.47 crore from the foreign assistance,” Karmakar mentioned.
Other projects include Capacity Building of Statistics Service based on Platform with Tk 144.07 crore; Land Acquisition, Land Development and Construction of Basic Infrastructure for Establishment of Sheikh Hasina Medical University in Khulna with Tk 1,874.54 crore; Important Rural Infrastructure Development Project: Pirojpur and Jhalakathi Districts with Tk 1,100; Development of Important Rural Infrastructure in Barishal district with Tk 1,000 crore; Programme for Sustainability in the Textile and Leather Sector (STILE) with Tk 81.44 crore; Conversion of Chhatak Cement Company’s production method from wet process to dry process (2st revised) with additional Tk 1,417.88 crore ; Construction of new state-of-the-art circuit house building in place of existing circuit house building in Dhaka district with Tk 334.46 crore; Construction of various infrastructural facilities of newly created Gazipur (63 BGB) Battalion of Border Guard Bangladesh with Tk 223.02 crore and Urban Resilience Project (URP): Part of DDM (3rd Revised) with additional Tk 116.75 crore.
