ISLAMABAD, June 13: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has constituted a high-powered committee of bankers headed by its chairman, Razi ur Rehman Khan to identify hurdles in the growth of debt capital market in Pakistan and make suitable recommendations.

At present, Pakistan’s debt capital market lacks liquidity and efficiency. Some work had been done in the past on debt capital market, a commission's spokesman said here on Tuesday.

The SECP after consultation with the stock exchanges and various market participants has suggested a number of measures to promote the debt capital market and to overcome the impediments to it's development, which include reduction in the initial listing fee of the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) from Rs500,000 to Rs100,000 and proposing a reduction in stamp duty rates applicable on issuance of corporate bonds and commercial papers by the ministry of finance.

The appointment of market-makers for the first time in a public issue of debt securities was made in the recent issue of Term Finance Certificates (TFCs) to the general public by Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited, which is a step in the right direction for the improvement of liquidity in the debt capital market.

The SECP deemed it necessary to form a committee of experts comprising of SECP chairman, president Crescent Commercial Bank Shehzad Naqvi; Saleem Raza, chief executive officer of the Pakistan Business Council; M Azimuddin, president My Bank Limited; Asad Umer, president Engro Chemicals Pakistan Limited; Khozem Haider Mota (Haider Mota and Company), Ms Naz Chohan, CEO of KASB Fund Limited; Intikhab Ahmed, vice- president of Citibank; Ms Jahanara Sajjad Ahmad, joint director, SECP; and Jamal Baqur, senior-vice president of Crescent Commercial Bank, who will act as secretary to the committee.

The committee is entrusted with the task to quickly identify the issues hindering its growth and to make suitable recommendations to kick-start the debt capital market.