"The Government of Nigeria will continue with its efforts to consolidate its financial and banking sector reforms in order to cushion the effects of the current global financial meltdown on the Nigerian economy," the Chargé d'affaires of the Nigerian Embassy in Tunisia, Abdel Kader Musa, has said.

Mr. Kader made the revelation while addressing the recent Conference of African Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors on the Global Financial Crisis in Tunis, Tunisia, where he represented his country's ministry of finance and central Bank. The chargé d'affaires said the government had injected nearly 1. 7 trillion Naira (NGR 183.325 = 1US$) into the system and had taken relevant regulatory and supervisory actions whose scope extends to non-bank financing institutions. Pension funds, insurance and macro-finance institutions in Nigeria have been regulated, Mr. Musa emphasized.

While the international community struggles to come to grips with the analytical tools to understand the full dimension of the financial crisis, Mr. Musa explained that the Nigerian government had already intensified its efforts towards economic diversification and efficient utilization of domestic resources, under its 7-Point Framework Agenda. The country's government has further increased allocations to support infrastructure development, especially in the energy sector.

The Nigerian government's quick response to the crisis becomes more significant in the light of the country's position in the ECOWAS sub-region, he said, concluding that "Nigeria will do everything possible to enhance its efforts to foster strong regional integration as a means of mitigating the financial crisis".