BY DANIEL IDONOR
ABUJA— PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday charged the Board of the Debt Management office, DMO, to initiate policies that will aid the Federal Government realise its transformation agenda through debt management.

Inaugurating the supervisory board of DMO, chaired by Vice-President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, President Jonathan urged the new board to create new direction in public debt management in the country.

He said: “The board is charged with the responsibilities of approving policies, strategies and procedures which are to be adopted by the office for the achievement of its mandates. The board will also be expected to review the economic and political impact of both domestic and external debt management strategies among other functions.

He, therefore, challenged the board “to guide DMO to develop requisite frame- works for prudence, effective and sustainable mobilisation of the use of financial resources required to facilitate the transformation agenda of the government”; adding that “the board should also maintain the country’s public debt profile at sustainable level”.

However, he said, “I have no doubt that this board is capable of charting new policy initiatives in public debt management necessary for the accomplishment in the transformation agenda of the government. This is particularly important because of the challenges posed by the current sovereign debt crisis in Europe and the United States of America which appears to threaten the global economy in general in emerging economies like Nigeria in particular”.

Apart from securing the historic debt relief for the nation in the past, the president said the DMO has recorded a number of achievements in development and sustenance of the domestic bond market.

Other members of the board of DMO are Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance and Coordinator on the economy, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice; Nwaneze Okidegbe, Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Malam Sanusi Lamido, Governor of the Central Bank, Accountant-General of the Federation, and Bright Okogu, Director-General of DMO also secretary of the board.