of the debt management office should therefore be seen as a positive development that will enhance the efficiency of not only domestic debt management but also the effectiveness of monetary policy. indeed, in spite of the bank ’ s best endeavours in the prudent management of government ’ s domestic debt, not much has been achieved by way of rationalizing public expenditure and trimming the size of domestic public debt stock. some of the outstanding problems that call for urgent solutions include : · how to ensure that borrowed resources are productively utilised, such that economic and social rate of return is higher than the future servicing cost. · the restructuring of the existing public debt in favour of long - term in a way to compel better quality evaluation of the loans. · how the capital market can play an increasing role in the funding of the federal government fiscal operations. · the problem of intergenerational equity argument arising from debt over - hang. · how to reduce cbn funding of government and bring it in line with the government ’ s obligation under the west african monetary zone protocol. acceptable progress has, however, been made in this regard during the last two years. against this background, this forum has been organised to proffer practical solutions on how to tackle the problem of the burgeoning domestic debt of the federal government. participants are therefore challenged to come up with a credible framework that would prepare the road map, which will guide the nigerian government in resolving this problem. to this end, ladies and gentlemen, we have assembled today scholars, seasoned professionals and other key stakeholders in the economy to lead the discussions. i therefore urge all the participants at this forum to discuss freely and frankly in order to come up with useful ideas that will crystallize into an enduring solution to the country ’ s debt problem. once more, i welcome you to this forum and wish you fruitful deliberations.

to put measures in place to shore up reserves ” ; • bop : overall our balance of payments is expected to remain positive in the short - term. hoping that oil prices continued to recover, we expect the current account balance to strengthen even further. this will be supported by improved non - oil performance as diversification efforts begin to yield results to reduce undue imports. • supporting domestic production : given the remarkable success that has been achieved in stimulating domestic production of goods such as rice, cassava and maize, as a result of the restrictions placed by the cbn on access to forex for 41 items, the cbn intends to vigorously ensure that this policy remains in place, and additional efforts would be made unscrupulous to block parties ( both any attempts individuals by and corporates ) that intend to find other avenues of accessing forex, in order to import these items into nigeria. the cbn ’ s economic intelligence and banking supervision departments will work very hard with the efcc to expose and sanction any, bank, company or fx operator that colludes with unscrupulous individuals / companies to undermine the policy on 41 items. such sanctions will include, but not limited to prohibiting the banks from maintaining any bank accounts for such institutions or persons in nigeria. given the global and domestic headwinds we face as a nation, and the volatility that is being experienced in the crude oil market, we have no other option, as leaders interested in the progress of our nation, but to work very hard to spur job creation by reviving agricultural and industrial activities in the country. if we continue to support the growth of small holders farmers, as well as help to revive palm oil refineries, rice mills, cassava and tomato processing factories, you can only imagine the amount of wealth and jobs that will be created in the country ; these could include new set of small holders farmers that will be engaged in productive activities ; new logistics companies that will transport raw materials to factories, and finished goods to the market ; new storage centres that will be built to store locally produced goods ; additional growth for our banks and financial institutions as they will be able to provide financial services to support these new businesses ; and finally, the millions of nigerians that will be employed in factories to support processing of goods. if we turn a blind eye to the opportunities that are being created as a result of our policy on 41 items, we will be spelling doom for our nation. we can no longer afford to