Market closure was a tough decision ; CSE Chairman

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange, Dumith Fernando told reporters on Monday (18) the closure of the CSE for 5 working day was a difficult decision, that is agreed by some and disagreed by others.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) decided to direct the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) to temporarily close the stock market for five business days commencing on 18th April 2022, citing the present situation in the country.

Many other stakeholders of the securities market including the Colombo Stock Brokers Association have also sought the temporary closure of the market on the same grounds, it added.

“We are in the process of relaxing some measures with regard to forced selling,” Fernando told reporters in Colombo.

He said that there is a responsibility to the Colombo Stock Exchange to close the market and implement the necessary measures.

"The CSE does not believe that the market should be closed indiscriminately. They should remain open and provide liquidity. But as I mentioned when you think about the factors of a fair and an orderly market there are factors that are now in conflict with each other. To remain open we might undermine some of the other factors that might create what is an orderly market," he said.