FG urged to strengthen operations in financial sector

Mr Boniface Okezie, President of the Progressive Shareholders Association ((PSAN), on Friday urged Federal Government to strengthen operations of the financial sector in order to encourage growth. Speaking in Lagos yesterday, Okezie said that until the financial sector recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, the sector might not record significant growth. He said that the government could re-capitalise the banks to accommodate the retrenched, adding that the recovery of banks would pump more money into the economy and ensure business growth. "Until the government streamlines the activities of the financial sector fully, the Nigerian economy may not record remarkable growth in the financial sector," Okezie said. He noted that the financial market plays an integral role in the growth and development of any economy and should be given maximum attention. Also on Friday, the market capitalisation lost N27 billion or 0.27 per cent to close at N9.846 trillion from the N9.873 trillion recorded on Thursday. In addition, the All-Share Index, which opened at 29,642.38 dropped 80.31 points to close at 29,562.07. Nestle led the losers’ chart by N9.75 to close at N800.25 per share. 7UP depreciated by N5 to close at N156, while GTBank dipped by 38k to close at N20.03 per share. SCOA lost 23k to close at N4.44 and NAHCO dropped 2k to close at N4.8 per share. On the other hand, Seplat led the gainers’ chart by N3.72 to close at N305.23 per share. PZ Cussons gained N2.55 to close at N29.64, while Dangote Sugar grew by 54k to close at N6.82 per share. Cadbury appreciated by 35k to close at N40.25, while UACN chalked up 2k to closed at N37.2 per share. Zenith Bank emerged the most traded stock, accounting for 59.50 million shares valued N950.39 million. It was trailed by FBNH, which sold 39.06 million shares worth N281m04 million, while Diamond Bank accounted for 35.66 million shares valued N127.79 million. GTBank traded 34.55 million shares worth Nf92.22 million, while investors in Dangote Sugar staked N127.21 million on 19.37 million shares. In all, investors exchanged a total of 317.667 million shares worth N4.751 billion in 3,800 deals. This was against the 917.084 million shares valued at N11.99 billion traded in 3,889 deals on Thursday.