Ulaanbaatar
New challenge surfaced in making domestic stock market accessible
Economy
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. A forum took place under the theme, ‘IPO Mongolia: Accessible Stock Market’ on April 15.
While there used to be a large number of retail investors in the Mongolian stock market, larger, institutional investors have now become more common, highlighted Director of the Securities Market Department at the Financial Regulatory Commission (FRC) B. Dulguun. And it was for this exact reason that the forum was co-organized by the Financial Regulatory Commission, the Mongolian Stock Exchange, and the Mongolian Association of Securities Dealers.
One of the topics that were discussed at the forum was making the operations of state-owned enterprises public and transparent, with appropriate monitoring. Many of the participants agreed that this measure would positively affect foreign investment, and in turn, the strength of the Mongolian tugrug (MNT), reducing inflation.
Furthermore, as investment funds begin to be established, products and services are being offered for making investments in the stock market. For instance, with the introduction of new transactions, products, and services such as private and public bonds, financing of MNT 200 billion has been sourced through private bonds alone, highlighted CEO of Invescore Capital G. Uyangakhishig.
By the end of last year, domestic stock prices increased by 60 percent including the stocks of ‘Mandal Insurance’, ‘Ard Credit’, and ‘Tumen Shuvuut’. As for the MSE TOP-20 Index, although it has dropped by a significant amount, transactions continue to be nearly as active as the same period of the previous year.
The current state of the country’s economy is also affecting the stock market to a certain extent. However, it is possible to recover the economy by developing the domestic stock market - a “channel” for attracting foreign investment - by having companies and entities issue IPOs.
As of April 15, the total market capitalization of the Mongolian Stock Exchange stands at MNT 5.1 trillion.
Aside from professional investors, domestic companies and entities have increasingly become active in the stock market. Currently, about 74 percent of total transactions are done by over 16 thousand companies.
