Capital Market: Senate Panel Asks FG to Approve N10bn to Fund Literacy Development

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Senate Committee on Capital Market yesterday, asked the Minister of Finance, and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, to approve N10 billion special funding to finance literacy development in the capital market.

Chairman of the Committee, Senator Osita Izunaso, made the appeal when Edun and the Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama appeared before the committee for an interactive session.

Izunaso noted concerns that only 5,000 investors were in the capital market, saying that a special fund for the sector would help boost the market.

He explained, “We are asking for an intervention for capital allocation and special funding to finance literacy development in the capital market because that is where the problem is.

“So, if you do that, we will be happy and the capital market will blossom. You will get our letter in that regard today after this meeting.”

“That is the hallmark of what Sen. Victor Umeh said. Most of them (investors) lost their money through this capital market system. People lost money; people have not regained confidence and we are pushing them,” Izunaso added.

A member of the committee, Senator Victor Umeh (LP-Anambra) had earlier said the capital market was a very essential indicator of the health of any economy and how the capital market operates across the world.

He explained, “From the experience from the capital market, a lot is expected to be done to restore public confidence on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

“Being able to restore public confidence is key to the operations in that sector. Why we said this is because what we saw was a shock and traumatic experience where investors in the market lost all their funds.”

The Chairman Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, said the request for N10 billion for literacy and enlightenment needed to be granted.

“We need to see how we can take money out from the budget for the campaign,” he added.

The Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, said as long as President Bola Tinubu has set up a target of $1 trillion economy, “what matters is the vibrancy of the economy.

“This is in terms of having economic stability at the macro level in terms of the revenues, budget deficits and inflation rates.

“Such that the coming together of these major variables can create a stable environment which will improve investment including investment in the capital market through the stock exchange.

“All these are under the purview of SEC.

We now have a much more stable macro economy for investments as a result of the President’s decisive, timely intervention.”

​ 

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.