State Minister of Finance and Capital Markets Ajith Nivard Cabraal told stockbrokers that "Sri Lankan investors who acquire shares now would make substantial capital gains very soon". Cabraal made these remarks when he addressed Sri Lanka's Stockbrokers at the Finance Ministry last Friday, 4th September.
Cabraal explained that the Colombo Stock Exchange's All Share Price Index was at around 7300 points by end December 2014 and the market cap was around USD 25 billion. However, the ASPI has now shrunk to about 5300 points with the market cap down to about USD 12.5 billion, even though most companies had accumulated reasonable profits over the past 5 years and their balance sheets had grown.
From this information, it is very evident that the ASPI today should be at a much higher value and the market cap too should be substantially higher. Accordingly, it is clear that there is a huge potential for the valuations of the shares to increase in the near future, since confidence is returning to the markets and economic activity is likely to pick up in the near term.
Cabraal said stockbrokers must therefore try and persuade Sri Lankan investors to invest in the stock market before trying to get foreigners to come to the Sri Lankan bourse.