Awareness and Challenges of Stock Market in Bhutan

This paper investigates the awareness level and challenges confronting the Bhutanese Stock market and brokers to ascertain its development potential within this emerging economy. The study was carried out using both quantitative and qualitative techniques and is mainly based on primary sources of data where a semi-structured questionnaire was designed to collect data from the public, brokers and officials of Royal Securities Exchange of Bhutan Limited (RSEBL). The findings have revealed that more than half of the public are aware of the existence of the RSEBL and they are not highly knowledgeable about trading on the Stock market or its benefits. The study also found that the respondents are interested in investing in the Stock market but lacked knowledge on investment avenues. Furthermore, the findings have revealed the challenges and limitations which hinder the development of a more robust stock market in Bhutan. The major challenges faced by RESBL and its brokers are lack of participation from public and companies, low frequency of trade and liquidity problem. The study suggests that the public should be educated on the benefits of investing in the stock market as well as on the procedures of investing in stocks. In addition, RSEBL should encourage more companies to be listed in the stock exchange. This study draws awareness to the existence of the Bhutan stock market as a potential investment opportunity. Furthermore, it sheds light on the challenges emerging markets face in establishing a viable and effective exchange.