COVID-19 and the Capital Market Chaos

Abstract

COVID-19 has taken away the regular way of the world. It is raging the whole world since late January 2020. 212 countries and territories around the world have been reportedly affected so far. Community transmission has viciously reached its peak. Almost every nation is fighting hard against this pandemic at a substantial economic cost. The state of economic normalcy is getting quite uncertain day after day as the contagion remains beyond control. Many capital markets around the world have already endured drastic declines due to this unprecedented crisis. The present paper analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), the premier bourse of Bangladesh, using recent market information. This paper also investigates the consequences that the market participants have been experiencing due to the mayhems of COVID-19. Finally, it recommends policy responses that can be the most appropriate undertakings to deal with the ongoing and imminent capital market chaos.

Keywords: COVID-19, Pandemic, Capital Market, DSE, Market Operators

JEL Classification: G1, G2, G4