One of the first major tasks the administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari will have to contend with will be how to finance the 2015 budget in the wake of low oil price and rising threats from declining revenue. This becomes very critical when viewed against the backdrop of the tough economic conditions witnessed over the last couple of months in the country, especially in the area of declining crude oil and gas receipts and Federal Government’s inability to meet some of its financial obligations.

The United States, US Bureau of Land Management is proposing changes to federal onshore oil and gas royalty rates, rental payments, lease sale minimum bids, civil penalty caps, and financial assurances, US Interior Secretary, Sally Jewell announced. Oil & Gas Journal reports that comments on the Advanced Notice of Possible Rulemaking (ANPR) will be accepted for 45 days following its publication in the Federal Register.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday explained how it discovered the N8 billion currency fraud. In a statement issued yesterday, Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Alhaji Ibrahim Muazu said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would like to inform the general public of the chronology of events that led the Management of the CBN to handover some unscrupulous staff to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for prosecution.

Gwarzo should be able to transform the capital market. He should look into stock brokers who are contravening the laws and interested in collecting and spending money meant for investment where shareholders are at the receiving end. He should maintain unity between foreign investors in the capital market.

The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) said it is set to engage the Federal Government and the Directorate of the National Youth Corps Scheme (NYSC) on the need to integrate capital market operations into the entrepreneurial scheme of NYSC to avail the fresh graduates a more comprehensive exposure to the capital market operations.