Through its Committee on Capital Market, the Nigerian Senate has called on the Minister of Finance, Mr Olawale Edun, to approve an N10 billion special fund to support literacy development in the capital market.
The committee’s chairman, Senator Osita Izunaso, appealed during an interactive session with Mr. Edun and Dr. Emomotimi Agama, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Senator Izunaso, who decried that only 5 million investors were in the capital market, said that a special fund for the sector would help in boosting it.
“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,” Senator Izunaso said.
Senator Victor Umeh (LP-Anambra) had earlier said that the capital market was an essential indicator of “the health of any economy” and how the capital market operates across the world.
“From the experience from the capital market, a lot is expected to be done to restore public confidence in 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,” he said.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, said that the request for N10 billion for literacy and enlightenment needed to be done.
“We need to see how we can take money out from the budget for the campaign,” he said.
In his remarks, the Minister of Finance, Mt. Edun, said that in as much as President Bola Tinubu has set up a target of a 1 trillion dollar 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 macroeconomic environment for investments as a result of the President’s decisive, timely intervention.”
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