Covid-19 and the Nigerian Economy: Evidences from the Foreign Exchange Rate
- October 19, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS Team
- Categories: COVID-19, IJRIAS
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume V, Issue IX, September 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186
Covid-19 and the Nigerian Economy: Evidences from the Foreign Exchange Rate
Onwughai, Emelenjor Austin
Department Of Accounting, Finance and Taxation, College Of Post-Graduate Studies, Caleb University, Imota Lagos, Nigeria
Abstract: The entire world including Nigeria is currently battling the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic. The pandemic has affected all aspects of human lives and world economy without any form of exemption to the Nigeria economy. The foreign exchange rate has witnessed a dwindling effect since the rise of the pandemic in Nigeria. It is based on the aforementioned that this paper has examined the impact of the COVID-19 on the Nigeria economy with empirical evidences from the foreign exchange rates. Expo facto research design was used to collate secondary data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nairametrics covering the period April 1 to June 30, 2020. The data were analysed with Microsoft Excel and IBM SPSS using descriptive statistics. The findings reveal that a negative relationship exist between the impact of the COVID-19 and the value of the naira against the dollar. The study concluded that there is no relationship between COVID-19 and the Nigeria foreign exchange rates. The study recommends that the government and its agencies should focus more on other economic factors like oil price and importation to manage the exchange rate instead of COVID-19.
Keywords: Covid-19, Foreign exchange rate (forex), Nigeria economy, Monetary Policy.
I. INTRODUCTION
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID -19) was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 29, 2019. Since this date, the virus has spread rapidly and globally with Thailand being the first country to report a case of Coronavirus outside of China, in January 13, 2020 (World Health Organisation, 2020). As of June 11, 2020, 11:58 GMT, there were 7,484,084 confirmed cases and 419,518 deaths globally (Worldometer) and 13,873 confirmed cases with 382 deaths in Nigeria (NCDC), from the COVID-19 pandemic.
