Economy
THE Federal Government has urged Nigerians to imbibe savings culture in order to be economically empowered.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed made the call in a statement issued by Mrs Efe Ebebo, Head, Corporate Communication, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Abuja on Monday.
Ebebo said the minister spoke at a meeting with members of the Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Council (CAMMIC).
According to the minister, imbibing the culture of savings remained a necessary step to make investments capable of engendering economic growth.
Ahmed said that the government would establish a National Savings Committee that would recommend the best ways to mobilise savings to grow the economy.
“We need to grow domestic investments that will be here to stay, not just people that are shopping around for where to make profit alone.
“It is true that the present financial system is still tied largely to the banks, there is a need to look at all the players and help solve the problems.’’
According to her, government is aware of the volatility of the capital market and is ready to work with CAMMIC to ensure market stability.
“We know we need foreign investors in our market, but most importantly we need to grow our domestic investors who are here to stay.
“This is because foreign investors quickly take their money and go away when there is crises but our domestic investors always remain here,’’ the minister said.
The statement said the Chairman of CAMMIC, Mr Olutola Mobolurin had earlier urged the government to pay more attention to the capital market following its strategic role in the economy.
Mobolurin said regulation of the market was crucial because the industry relied hugely on investors’ confidence.
“I call on the National Savings Committee to drive the process of fund mobilisation among Nigerians and work on a robust savings initiative that could drive growth of the economy.
The statement also quoted Ms Mary Uduk, Acting Director-General of SEC as saying “the commission and the market were working to make the capital market attractive to pension funds to boost liquidity. (NAN)
Mar. 6, 2019 @ 11:35 GMT |
Tags: FG tasks Nigerians on savings culture for economic growth
