Author(s): Ayodele, T. D., Akinyede, O. M., Ojedele, M. I. & Afolabi, T. S.
The study empirically investigated the effect of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on the performance and effectiveness of the Nigerian money market, capital market, and foreign exchange market. The study used time-series data for 120 working days after the first COVID-19 confirmed case in Nigeria and used both exploratory and multiple regression analysis to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 outbreak on the Nigerian financial market. Open buy back rate (OBRR), All Share Index Volume (ASIV) and Parallel Foreign Exchange Rate (PFXR) were used as variables for money market, capital market and foreign exchange market, respectively. The data representing these variables were subjected to econometric analysis, including the ADF-Fisher unit root test, Johansen co-integration test and Ordinary Least squares (OLS) regression technique. Results from the analysis show that the number of COVID-19 cases is inversely related to the interbank money market rate and the All Share Index Volume of the capital market but directly related to the foreign exchange rate. The study concludes that COVID-19 pandemic significantly affects the Nigerian financial market. Therefore, it was recommended that the government should take preventive steps against financial challenges resulting from health risk in order to ensure stability in the financial market. In addition, business owners should provide motivations that will allow their staff to work remotely, wherever they are. Furthermore, the government should, by way of policies, encourage domestic production of goods and services