Since July 1997, there have been only 38 public issues. While August 1998 had one public issue, the earlier monthly figures were equally dismal. July (1), June (5), May 3, April 2, March 2, February 0, January 4, December 1997 (6), November 4, October 4, September 1, August 3 and July 2.

The first five months of the current fiscal has seen only 12 public issues raising a meagre Rs 1402 crore, compared with 62 issues aggregating Rs 3061 crore in 1997-98 and 753 issues for Rs 11648 crore in 1996-97.

A significant, but worrying, feature, according to Prime, is the near-total absence of equity. Public issues of equity at Rs 182 crore have accounted for only13 per cent of the five-month period's total mobilisation. These have successively been going down from a high 100 per cent (Rs 13312 crore) in 1994-95.

The most adversely affected are corporates. Only Rs 83 crore, representing six per cent of the total funds raised in the five-month period of the current fiscal, have been from the manufacturing sector, down from a high 83 per cent in 1994-95.

On the other hand, financial institutions and banks, as per Prime, have continued to dominate. Their mobilisation at Rs 1318 crore constitutes 94 per cent of the five month period's total amount, up from a meagre per cent in 1994-95.

The government continues to monopolise the primary market, with a 93 per cent share in five month period's total mobilisation, up from 9 pewr cent in 1994-95.

Initial public offering's, in specific, have been badly hit. Ipos, which are essentially first public issues from unlisted companies, had already fallen from a high of 1350 in 1995-96 to only 51 in 1997-98. These are now downto only 7 in the first five months of fiscal 1998-99 mobilising a meagre sum of Rs 124 crore.

Given the state of the market and economy, Prime projects that the remaining period of 1998-99 may also be dismal. One of the pointers is the number of public issue documents filed with Sebi for clearance from an average of 87 documents per month in the January-December 1996 period, the figure fell to only 7 per month in the January-December 1997 period and is now down to only 3 per month in the January-August 1998 period.

Some bank issues and provide materialisation of the disinvestment programme may, however, provide rescue for the market. Some amount of debt mobilisation could be witnessed in the market, said Prime.