The Minister for Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has expressed fears over the shutdown of the America economy, saying that it might affect Nigeria’s bond trading in the international market.

She made the statement during a news conference on the outcome of the Commonwealth Ministers of Finance Meeting at the ongoing Annual Meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary fund in Washington DC, USA.

Her words: “The present situation in the US creates uncertainty for developing and emerging countries and that is why we look forward to a swift resolution on the issue of a debt ceiling.

“If not resolved, it could upset the market. We could see higher interest rates that will directly affect Nigeria’s bond.

“As you know, we have not only the $500 million bond we floated two years ago but also the Euro bond.

“We could see the price and the yield of these bonds affected and that is why we need to have more certainty in the market.”

Okonjo-Iweala pointed out that the major focus of the meeting was on development needs of member-states, growth issues, job creation, increasing livelihood of the people and how to address the concerns whether they occurred in small or large member-countries.

The minister said: “But specifically, to get there we focused on issues of financing the post 2015 development framework. We are all engaged globally on the post 2015 agenda and how to finance the goals that will come forward.

“We noted that sustainable development financing needs are enormous and there is need for additional resources, if the financing needs of the developing countries are to be met.”

She stressed the group’s stand on the Official Development Assistance (ODA) which she said remains vital and called on the international community to meet its existing ODA commitment in a time-bound manner.

The meeting, according to Okonjo-Iweala, agreed on the establishment of a well regulated financial system, adding that member-countries were advised to adopt domestic resource mobilisation.

The minister further noted that most developing countries had already adopted domestic resources mobilisation to finance some of their projects adding that the issues on how to close tax loopholes, tackle linkages, extend tax pays and harness illicit cash flows and turn them around to finance projects were also issues discussed at the meeting.

•Photo shows Okonjo-Iweala.

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