Dhaka, Jan. 6 -- The government's tax revenue from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dropped 30 per cent year-on-year to Tk 1,661 million in the first half of the current fiscal year, owing to a plunge in turnover.

The market was sluggish throughout the period. Low share sales by sponsor-directors made things only worse, dragging down daily turnover and stripping away government's earnings from the prime bourse, said Mostaque Ahmed Sadeque, former president of the DSE Brokers Association of Bangladesh.

The presence of floor price and investors' lack of confidence played a major role behind the low turnover in recent months, said Mr Sadeque, also managing director of Investment Promotion Services, a brokerage firm.

The average daily turnov...