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By Chinwendu Obienyi
Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has called on the Federal Government to end the current multiple exchange rates in Nigeria, warning that multiple exchange rates could cause a break in the country’s capital inflows.
Obaseki disclosed this during the opening ceremony of the 25th annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) which held in Lagos on Thursday.
While explaining that there is a symbiotic relationship between a well developed capital market and its nation’s economy. Obaseki noted countries like the U.S, Europe, Asia have stability in free capital movement and a stable exchange rate which has attracted more capital and development in their capital markets.
He said the relationship between the capitalisation of well developed markets and GDP of the developed countries is strong and effective while the same cannot be said of Nigeria and other emerging countries.
“The U.S where the market capitalisation is 143 per cent of GDP, Canada’s is 24 per cent, Japan’s 92 per cent but that cannot be said of Nigeria or most emerging countries. As you are aware, we need capital markets so we can attract long term development and achieve financing development and the capital market can help the government to improve rapid development and globalisation and so it is a significant contributor to our own economic development and so for Nigeria to become part of the league of countries with strong economies, then it must have a well developed capital market”, he said.
