By Stanley Opara   Tuesday, 14 Sep 2010

 

The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria has listed low level of confidence in the financial system and lack of credit among the numerous challenges mitigating against the stability of the Nigerian economy.

The body, however, said there was the need to device ways of unlocking the current credit squeeze that had now become the order of the day and rebuild confidence in the financial sector.

CIBN, in a statement made available to our correspondent on Monday, said the global financial crisis had caused various limitations to operators and regulators in the financial system.

It stressed the need for stakeholders to chart a way forward to consolidate on the various efforts by the Federal Government to stabilise the financial system and restore public confidence.

The Chairman, Consultative Committee on the fourth Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the CIBN, Mrs. Yvonne Isichei, said, ”The Institute is committed to articulating new ways and strategies, which it believes would help not only to rekindle public confidence in the sector but also encourage and promote professionalism, due diligence and global best practice.”

She said it was necessary to gather operators and regulators in the Nigerian economy and internationally, and engage them in meaningful and strategic dialogue on issues and ideas considered very critical to building sound and sustainable financial system and economy.

Isichel said this was the peg of the fourth Banking & Finance Conference scheduled for Abuja in September, explaining that there was the need for a platform for practitioners and other stakeholders in the banking and finance industry to ”formulate strategies on how to improve corporate governance structures of financial institutions and engage the regulators on a variety of regulatory concerns that affect the industry.”

”This, she said was also aimed at evaluating the “implications of the holding company model and proffer recommendations as needed, and discuss the challenges militating against the development of the fixed income market in spite of the recent concessions and propose ways of jumpstarting the process.”

She said, over the years, such forum had continued to provide the unique opportunity and platform for the operators in the banking and finance sector and the regulators as well as policy makers to regularly interact and dialogue with a view to finding lasting solutions to the prevailing financial and economic challenges.

”The resolutions that emerge from such forum are usually made available to all the relevant stakeholders and policy makers to enable them to re-appraise and re-evaluate their operations and strategies in line with global best practice,” she added.

She said with the theme, ”Evolving Financial Land Scape: Strategies for Economic Resilience,” the forum hoped to complement the Federal Government‘s socio-economic programmes with a view to fast-tracking the socio-economic development of Nigeria, and by extension, attract foreign investments and improved national earnings to the benefit of all stakeholders.

Source: The Punch