Economic growth: Minister calls for broader, deeper financial system

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo said on Thursday that the only way to sustain the growth of the nation’s economy is to broaden and deepen the financial system.

In his address at the 2021 national Workshop of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers in Abuja, the Minister noted the importance of the financial sector in enhancing efficient economic growth.

In a press release issued by the Special Adviser SA (Media) to Minister, Ifedayo Sayo said “As the economy grows, the financial services sector needs to keep pace with changing industry demands, especially in terms of assessing the prospects for risk and return.

“Sustainable growth of the economy needs to be underpinned by a broadening and deepening of the financial system, capable of serving the needs of all parts of the economy.

” Economies that have sustained long-term growth have experienced enormous structural change, as they have shifted from being predominantly rural and agricultural to a more urban, manufacturing-and-service-based structure.

“This was certainly the history of many industrialized countries, as the countries economies diversified, their financial systems grew in depth and breadth.”

He stressed that with the nation presently experiencing economic growth, there is the need for the development of a healthy financial sector.

He added that emphasis “is being placed on reforms that strengthen the rights of borrowers and lenders, strengthen the credit rating system, lower the costs of obtaining credit and streamline dispute resolution”.