Savings certificates should be tradable: BB governor

Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur has stressed the need to make savings certificates tradable so that investors can treat them as liquid assets.

He made the remarks today at a seminar at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).

"If savings certificates become tradable, it would be good for investors," he said.

Along with savings certificates, treasury bonds also need to be easily accessible to households and tradable to make them more attractive, he added.

The governor said toll-based roads, highways, metro rail projects, and bridges could be securitised through bond issuance.

Through bonds, the government could also raise funds for further infrastructure development, he added.

He said that if the private sector and the government continue to rely only on banks for financing instead of issuing bonds, it would keep creating problems in the financial system.

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed said the government is working to promote the bond market.

The seminar on the bond and Shariah-based sukuk market was jointly organised by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and the DSE.