Capital market operators call on new ministers to get busy in reviving the economy

Kenneth Afor with agency report

After 24 hours of the swearing-in of the new ministers by President Muhammadu Buhari, capital market operators have urged the new ministers to put all hands on deck in setting the country’s economy on the right path.

Expectations were high on the calibre of persons the president would appoint into key areas of the economy but the perceptions of many were not far fecthed from previous ministers.

Sola Oni, chief executive officer, Sofunix Investments and communications, urged appointed ministers to get to work immediately to save the economy from another imminent collapse.

He said, “We run an economy where about 65 percent of our income is devoted to servicing debt which hovers at 70 billion dollars. This is a killer situation and the state of infrastructure is still a journey to be accomplished,”

Oni hinted that economic policy on the capital market should be aimed at retaining investors’ confidence.

He added, “Once investors continue to be apprehensive of macroeconomic stability, the issue of medium and long term investment horizon becomes unpopular. This is one of the major factors accounting for the continuous slide in prices of shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.”

He, however, urged committee members in the senate on Central Bank and that of the capital market to work harmoniously with capital market stakeholders to initiate a sustainable policy that will revive the capital market on short, medium and term basis.

Moses Igbrude, publicity secretary, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria called on ministers in key sectors of the economy to work closely with players in the private sector for job creation among the unemployed.

He said, “Those saddled with the management of the economy should work closely with the private sector to formulate policies that will help businesses in order to create jobs and wealth for Nigerians. The government must and should harness the potential of the capital market for economic growth and development. A private sector-driven economy is the best approach to a sustainable and prosperous economy anywhere in the world.”

He, however, called on the new Federal Executive Council (FEC) to formulate policies on the ease of doing business, multiple foreign exchange market and also tackle multiple taxations.