The number of Demat accounts, which stood at around 1.7 million as of July last year, has now exceeded 3.5 million. Recently, the participation of the public in the stock market has been increasing in an encouraging manner.
According to the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal (SEBON), the number of MeroShare accounts has tripled in one year. According to the board, the number of MeroShare accounts, which was around seven lakh in July last year, has increased more than three and a half times in less than a year and has now reached around 2.6 lakh.
According to the board, about 1.8 million people have applied for the initial public offering (IPO) of SEBON since last year.
SEBON's secondary market has seen a significant increase (more than 17 times) in the number of users using user IDs for online transactions to more than 660,000, with an average of 600,000 investors active in the business. As a result, investors in the capital market are gradually becoming more technology-friendly, the SEBON said.
More than 3.5 million people have opened Demat accounts in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year. CDS and Clearing Limited has stated that 3,549,247 people have opened Demat accounts as of June 10.
The board is about to add a broker's license to operate in the stock market. According to the board, preparations are being made to issue licenses to a total of 35 brokers, five in each of the seven states.
Stating that the work has been taken forward with the objective of introducing new institutional and provincial stockbrokers to the market, the board has given priority to the issue of licensing brokers in the current environment.
SEBON said that the stock market situation, the state of the economy, the Nepse index and interest rates, the relationship between supply and margin loans, and the recent fluctuations in prices have been observed in view of the increase in the stock market amid the adverse conditions caused by the Covid-19 epidemic.
According to SEBON, the study includes an analysis of some companies, reasons for the rise in the stock market index, and actions to be taken in the stock market. Such reports have been submitted to the Government of Nepal and the Ministry of Finance for information.
SEBON has completed the preliminary study on financial inclusion and municipal bonds and is in the process of finalizing it.
In the first 10 months of the current fiscal year alone, about Rs. 78 billion has been mobilized through the primary market of securities, which is the highest in the history of the last 28 years.
SEBON's objective is to help mobilize long-term capital in the productive sector by collecting small savings scattered in the society through the primary market.
