by extension demand for commodities such as crude oil • second, how to ensure that nigeria ’ s economy is insulated from the adverse consequences facing emerging and frontier markets, due to rising rates in the united states. • third, what is the likely impact on the crude oil market from the sharp rise in us oil production, which currently stands at 11. 7m barrels per day and is likely to rise to over 14m barrels in 2 years? 12. as you may recall, nigeria ’ s political - economy experienced significant challenges over the last few years revealing its structural deficiencies particularly with regards to its dependence on crude oil, as a major source of its revenue and foreign exchange, as well as over dependence of our people on imported items even when these goods could be produced locally. the 60 percent decline in crude oil prices between 2015 and 2016 helped shape the trajectory of our economy, ultimately triggering the economic recession in q1 of 2016. road to recovery 13. the country ’ s overdependence on crude oil for fx revenue meant that shocks in the oil market were transmitted entirely to the economy via the fx markets as manufacturers and traders who required forex to purchase their inputs as well as goods, were faced with a depleting supply of foreign exchange in the country. the impact of this decline on our reserves was evident in the rise in the value of the us dollar relative to the naira ; and a rise in the consumer price index due to the increase in the cost of imported inputs and goods. in a bid to contain rising inflation and to cushion the impact of the drop in fx supply on the nigerian economy, the bank took three bold steps ; 14. first, the cbn tightened money supply in order contain inflation while improving yields in local bonds, which attracted the attention of foreign investors. second, we analyzed our import bill and encouraged manufacturers to consider local options in sourcing their raw materials, by restricting access to foreign exchange on 41 items. third, the investors and exporters fx ( i & e ) window was introduced, which allowed investors and exporters to purchase and sell foreign exchange at the prevailing market rate. 15. the impact of these three measures led to an increase in foreign exchange inflows into the country ; transactions in the i & e fx window reached $ 24 billion ( $ 6 billion net inflows ) in 2017 and nigeria ’ s foreign exchange reserves rose to over $ 48billion at the end of may 2018 from $ 23bn in october 2016 foreign

since january 1999 this standardised deduction has been set at 10 % for both types of securities. today, following a review of new statistical evidence available, the governing council decided to increase the standardised deduction to 30 %. this decision shall have effect as from the determination of the reserve requirement to be fulfilled in the maintenance period starting on 24 january 2000. a separate press release presenting this decision and some background information on standardised deductions from the reserve base will be issued to you here today. the governing council today approved the ecb ’ s budget for 2000, which gives the ecb the green light to recruit further staff needed to support the ongoing activities of the ecb. this will bring the ecb ’ s staff to slightly over 1, 000 ; the number of staff employed to date stands at 750. at its meeting on 18 november 1999 the governing council approved the publication of an update of the book on “ european union balance of payments statistical methods ” ( the “ b. o. p. book ” ). this important book documents the statistical methodologies applied in member states in compiling balance of payments statistics and, as such, improves the transparency of the compilation of euro area statistics. this new version includes additional chapters on : ( i ) investment income ; ( ii ) estimation methods, especially for goods, investment income and portfolio investment ; ( iii ) financial derivatives ; and ( iv ) the stocks compiled for international investment position statistics. the book was published on the ecb ’ s web site at 4 p. m. yesterday and will be available from the ecb in hard copy format during the course of next week. finally, let me inform you that the general council discussed the monetary policy objectives, strategies and intentions of the non - participating eu central banks against the background set by the monetary policy of the eurosystem. this is the second time that such an exercise has been undertaken since the ecb was established.