challenges emanating from their immediate environment and even beyond, but who can compete favourably with their counterparts around the world. 14. i would like to conclude with a clarion call to nigerian youths, particularly our graduates and undergraduates, that they should not succumb to the weight of despair regarding the challenges being faced by the nation. i challenge you today to pull yourselves up by your bootstraps, take up the challenge of undertaking that paradigm shift, by applying innovative and creative thinking in providing solutions capable of creating wealth and value for yourself, your community and the nation at large. ladies and gentlemen, i thank you for your time. dr. godwin i. emefiele, con governor, central bank of nigeria november 25, 2021

transparency and accountability in the implementation of banking laws and regulations, as well as ; the introduction of a flexible interest rate based framework that made the monetary policy rate the operating target. the new framework has enabled the bank to be proactive in countering inflationary pressures. the corridor regime has helped to check wide fluctuations in the interbank rates and also engendered orderly development of the money market segment and payments system reforms, among others. the bank has over the years identified key priority sectors and developed tailored interventions to support and promote their growth. some of the key interventions in the real sector include : n200 billion refinancing / restructuring of sme / manufacturing fund n300 billion for long term funding of power and aviation commercial agricultural credit scheme ( cacs ) the small and medium enterprises ( sme ) credit guarantee scheme ( smecgs ) in addition the nigerian incentive - based risk sharing system for agricultural lending ( nirsal ) was established. the programme is a demand - driven credit facility that would build the capacity of banks to engage and deliver loans to agriculture by providing technical assistance and reducing counterparty risks facing banks. it also seeks to pool the current resources under the cbn agricultural financing schemes into different components of the programme. furthermore, the bank has been collaborating with the securities and exchange commission ( sec ) and the nigerian stock exchange ( nse ), to reduce the cost of transactions, particularly bond issues, so as to diversify funding sources away from banks as well as attract more foreign portfolio investors into the sector. in 2010, the asset management corporation of nigeria ( amcon ) was established following the promulgation of its enabling act by the national assembly. it is a special purpose vehicle aimed at addressing the problem of non - performing loans in the nigerian banking industry, among others. in line with its mandate, amcon recently acquired the non - performing risk assets of some banks worth over n1. 7 trillion, which is expected to boost their bis central bankers ’ speeches liquidity as well as enhance their safety and soundness. with the intervention of amcon, the banking industry ratio of non - performing loans to total credit has significantly reduced from 34. 4 per cent in november 2010 to 4. 95 per cent as at december 2011. in order to ensure that amcon achieves its mandate, the cbn and all the deposit money banks have signed an mou on the financing of amcon. the cbn shall contribute n50 billion annually to amcon, while each of