The  chief executive of Oceanic Bank International plc, Cecilia Ibru has lauded Federal Government’s  intervention in the stock market crisis, saying such move will boost investors’  confidence in the capital market.

She noted that the  fundamentals for restoring confidence in the market are strong and that  investors’ hope of reaping bountiful returns on their investment remained very  high. Ibru made the  contribution at the third This Day Newspaper Town Hall meeting on  "Managing in an Uncertain Market" held in Abuja, at the weekend. 

Debunking  insinuations that the economy may bow to the global financial downturns, she  said potentials for growth in the nation’s economy remained very high and that  the measures already put in place will effectively check any negative effect  the global downturns may have on the economy.

The Oceanic Bank  chief executive who delivered a paper on "Staying Calm in Times of Global  Financial Crisis (Confidence Powered by Strong Fundamentals", advised that  the Central Bank of Nigeria and other regulators in the financial services  sector to step up regulatory mechanisms to ensure close monitoring of operators’  activities. 

The Oceanic Bank  chief executive said once the real sector of the economy comes live with good  funding from the financial institutions and all the segments of the economy are  making profits, then investors’ confidence will be restored. 

She however noted  that the financial crisis is a potential lesson to Nigeria and other African  countries because irrespective of the nation’s strong fundamentals, there is  need for the nation to learn from the crisis by setting structures that will  safeguard the nation’s financial services sector.

According to her,  the regulators should invest in human capital development to equip its  workforce with updated knowledge on global finance trends as well as enter  collaborative arrangements with regional and global counterparts to enhance  knowledge-sharing and efficiency.

Also the regulators  should endeavor to upgrade information and communication technology platforms  to enhance seamless interactions with operators, and engage operators in  periodic reviews on the state-of-the-sector and carry operators along in the  planning of government policies.

"This should be  in force in the selection of Boards, consultants, employees, and decisions on  operational guides for all operators. "In periods  like these, policymakers, regulators and operators need to continually build  confidence in the economy by taking decisive steps at addressing perceptions,  misconceptions and other issues that may arise from the financial  meltdown".