Worried by the consistent absence of government’s representatives in capital market fora and its dire consequences on market development, the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) has called for a change of attitude in order to move the market forward.
The institute is also clamouring for utilisation of the capital market to fund the 2017 budget deficit as a demonstration of the government’s belief in the market’s capacity to provide long-term fund for capital projects.
The CIS President, Mr. Oluwaseyi Abe, said that government at all levels should attach value to workshops, summits and other fora organised by capital market operators by attending in order to have direct interface with the operators on issues of common interest.
Meanwhile, the institute’s 2nd Vice Chairman, Mr. Tunde Amolegbe, stated that government officials driving capital market policies are obliged to come closer to the operators in order to understand the workings of the market and how it can impact on government policies.
“The growth of most developed economies is financed through the capital market. It is obvious that our market has capacity to fund the deficit in the 2017 budget. Participating in the capital market fora would surely bring the government to the operators on mutually agreeable ways by which the market can be utilised by the government. There are no better fora than the ones organised by professional bodies such as the CIS,” Amolegbe said.
The former President, CIS, Mr. Mike Itegboje, said when former Governor Lucky Igbinedion attended the CIS Conference in Edo State in 2001, he developed interest in raising money from the capital market.
Itegboje stressed that this underscored the imperative for government to play pivotal roles in any forum where capital market issues take the centre stage.
The institute’s first Vice President, Mr. Adedapo Adekoje, explained that operators in the capital market should not give up in the demand for active participation of government officials in the market workshops and related avenues as decisions taken at such fora stand better chance of implementation as against the current trends where only the operators themselves participate.
A council member of the institute, Mr. Ropo Dada, expressed dismay that the Federal Government appeared to see the capital market and money market from the perspective of competition rather than complimentary.