PSBA: 61,000 New Stock Accounts Opened in 6 Months

The Pakistan Stock Brokers Association (PSBA) announced that over 61,000 new stock market accounts were opened in just six months, demonstrating significant growth in investor participation.

While meeting with Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, a member of the National Assembly’s Standing Committees, and Chairman Syed Naveed Qamar, of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, Chairman PSBA expressed gratitude to Qamar for arranging the meeting to review ideas pertaining to the development of the capital market.

In his opinion, Pakistan cannot achieve its ambitious economic development goals without a thriving, efficient, world-class capital market.

The conference was an opportunity for the Senior V-C PSBA to boast about Pakistan’s capital market and its attractive volumes. Market expectations, attractive dividend yields, and good economic indicators present an opportunity for investors, as does the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) historically high price-to-earnings ratio of 8.5x compared to the current one.

In addition to sharing their thoughts on a range of topics, PSBA Board members offered suggestions on how the capital market may be improved.

The PSBA also highlighted the noteworthy increase of 61,862 UINs, bringing the total to 357,419, reflecting the substantial growth in the period from July to December 2024. With 15,130 UINs added in December 2024 alone, it was the best month ever.

The chief executive officer of PSBA made some suggestions to Chairman Qamar in an effort to clarify the meaning of “Security” and the beginning of its holding period in accordance with section 37A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

In an effort to broaden access to banking services, it was also suggested that people open investment savings accounts modeled after the RSIA in the US, the ISA in the UK, and the NISA in Japan.

Additional suggestions encompass resolving jurisdictional disputes within the Common Interest Council, streamlining tax rates for stock exchange listed corporations, formulating consistent and long-term capital market tax policies, and the recently introduced Tax Law (Amendment) Act, 2024.

After careful consideration of these recommendations, Qamar promised PSBA his full support in bringing them to the appropriate venue for potential implementation. Dr. Baig elaborated by saying both the government and the capital market’s stakeholders will benefit from the market’s expansion.

Before ending their conference, the PSBA delegates conveyed their gratitude to the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue for hosting the meeting and conveyed their high hopes for the assistance and dedication of his good authority to improve the financial sector.