Nigeria one-year currency forward, on Monday, recorded its biggest fall in more than 10-years after the official naira exchange rate was devalued on Friday.

The derivative, which gives an indication of where the currency could trade in a year’s time, fell 11.3 percent against the dollar.

The non-deliverable forwards market traded in London priced the naira at 515 units to the dollar in a year’s time while naira futures of the same tenor were quoted at 385.

The nine-months currency forward also fell more than 11 percent while the shorter maturities were down at least five percentage each. The market differential between one-year naira forwards and futures widened to 130 naira on Monday, up from 30 naira in January, as investors raced to hedge risk.

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Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has cut its growth estimate for Italy from 0.4 per cent of gross domestic product to minus 0.6 per cent as a result of the effects of the covid-19 outbreak. An IMF staff report on Friday gave the 0.4 per cent outlook but was also accompanied by an updated supplement taking into account the outbreak and revising the forecast to minus 0.6 per cent.

The IMF Executive Board said the outbreak “has created both health and economic emergencies that needs to be addressed urgently, while amplifying uncertainty and downside risks.”

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Figures have shown that coronavirus has killed more people in Italy than in any other country, after 427 deaths were recorded in a day.

The number of deaths now stands at 3,405, which is more than in China where the virus originated last year. There have been 3,245 reported deaths in China, but there have been questions over the reliability of its data.

A lockdown imposed on 12 March in Italy has been extended beyond the original 25 March end date. Nearly all Italians have been told to stay at home.

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Uganda's finance minister says the country will request for a 190 million dollar loan from the World Bank to help cushion its economy from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, Matia Kasaija said the government will seek a 100 million dollar budget support loan for this financial year and a further 90 million dollars for the next financial year. The minister said the government has cut its economic growth forecast this fiscal year to between 5.2 and 5.7 percent from an initial projection of 6 percent. Kasaija said the government will also approach the International Monetary Fund for help with a projected decline in foreign exchange reserves from 4.2 months worth of imports to 3.5 months.

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South African Airways said on Friday that it would immediately suspend all intercontinental flights until May 31. This is in response to a government travel ban aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

SAA flies to the United States, Britain, Germany, Australia and Brazil on its intercontinental routes. The airline said earlier this week that it had cancelled 162 international and regional flights until the end of this month due to low demand and restrictions linked to coronavirus.

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The South African Reserve Bank has announced emergency liquidity measures in a bid to ease the stress on banks caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The measures, announced on Friday, include a lower rate for commercial banks to borrow money from the SARB. In a statement, the bank said the Standing Facilities lending rate will be adjusted lower to the repo rate, from the prevailing rate of the repo rate plus 100 basis points. It said the measure will support banks to facilitate their flow of money market liquidity without being penalized.

Meanwhile, South African telecommunications company, MTN, has agreed to reduce the cost of its monthly data bundles of 1 gigabyte and below by between 25 percent and 50 percent from April. The telecoms company, on Friday, says the decision follows findings that the country’s mobile data prices were the highest on the continent. MTN South Africa said the price of its 1GB monthly data bundle will fall by 33 percent to 99 rand from 149 rand.

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California has ordered its 40 million residents to stay home indefinitely and venture outside only for essential jobs, errands and some exercise, becoming the first US state to adopt such a sweeping measure to curb the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak.

Governor Gavin Newsom said at an evening news conference streamed on social media on Thursday that he can assured that home isolation is not my preferred choice, but it's a necessary one

The order culminated a series of aggressive moves announced this week amid efforts to keep the virus in check by forcing people to stay away from each other as often as possible. Newsom had previously announced that all public events in California were cancelled until at least the end of March and ordered the closure of restaurants following previous mandates to close bars, breweries, wineries and similar establishments.

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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has approved the production of Chloroquine for clinical trials in the search for a cure for COVID-19.

Director-General of the agency, Mojisola Adeyeye, made the announcement on Friday at the NAFDAC headquarters in Lagos.

She, however, pointed out that NAFDAC is not approving Chloroquine for the treatment of  COVID-19 but for clinical trials to find treatment for the virus.

She, therefore, called on experts and researchers that are interested in doing a clinical trial on Chloroquine to approach approved outlets.

Adeyeye added that presently one company has been asked to make a batch of Chloroquine for the purpose of clinical trial

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The Kaduna State Government has advised Imams not to hold Juma’at services as part of efforts to restrict religious services and all large gatherings, in a bid to reduce the chances of spreading the coronavirus pandemic.

A statement by the spokesman of the governor, Muyiwa Adekeye on Friday said that the administration is taking a cue from the decision of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam, not to hold such prayers in the two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madina.

He directed all daily congregational prayers to be suspended until the coronavirus situation is clearly contained.

The Special Adviser further said that church services should be suspended, adding that Christian faithful should learn from the experience of many Christian-majority countries like Italy, France, and Germany.

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The Federal Government has added two more countries to the list of high-risk countries following the outbreak of coronavirus.

The countries include Austria and Sweden. The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire made the announcement at a media briefing on Friday in Abuja.

He added that there are now confirmed 12 cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria, out of which nine are in Lagos State.

The Federal Government had earlier on Wednesday issued a travel ban on 13 countries over the COVID-19 pandemic.

The addition of two new countries increases the number of high-risk countries listed by the Federal Government to be 15.

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