This is a correction of a Fitch Wire published on 17 February 2020, to reflect an early bond redemption by Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Limited and recent capital-raising by Landsea Green Properties Co., Ltd, which have reduced refinancing risks associated with maturities, resulting in an adjustment of our risk assessment for these two companies to 'Low' from 'High', as per the framework applied in this research.

As of 6am Geneva time this morning, China has reported a total of 78,630 cases of COVID-19 to WHO, including 2747 deaths.

As COVID-19 reaches more than 60 countries, the World Bank Group is making available an initial package of up to $12 billion in immediate support to assist countries coping with the health and economic impacts of the global outbreak.

The Nigerian economy has been a subject of four downgrades to its growth projections and economic outlook in the last four months. One was by the IMF reducing the GDP growth forecast to 2% while the others were by the rating agencies lowering the country's economic outlook from stable to negative.

The COVID-19 outbreak's implications for the global economy are highly uncertain but potentially disastrous. To understand the risks, one should remember Adam Smith's insight about the true engine of wealth creation, the division of labour, which itself is dependent on the size and extent of markets.

The Bank's three policy committees are today announcing a comprehensive and timely package of measures to help UK businesses and households bridge across the economic disruption that is likely to be associated with Covid-19

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has called on Nigerians to see the killer disease, corona virus (COVID-19), as the headwinds that could reinforce the wake-up call to a life without oil, rather than spreading panic and speculation in the economy.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has clearly altered global economic outlook for 2020. Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) classified COVID-19 as a pandemic, suggesting a possibility of further shutdown across economies with knock-on effects likely to negatively distort global trade and mobility. This risk is further accentuated by the ongoing oil price war stoked by the failed OPEC+ resolution on oil production cuts.

Social distancing is an accepted strategy to delay and diminish outbreaks of respiratory infections, such as influenza. Similar to influenza, the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can be readily transmitted human-to-human through respiratory droplets and contact with a contaminated surface.

In Africa, the number of COVID-19 cases and impacted countries has been increasingly steadily. As of 12 March 2020, 129 cases have been diagnosed in 12 countries, with one death recorded. The experience in other countries is that, after cases are diagnosed, community transmission occurs.

The Corona Virus (COVID 19) pandemic is having significant adverse consequences for both the global and the Nigerian economies. It has already led to unprecedented disruptions in global supply chains, sharp reduction in crude oil prices, turmoil in global stock and financial markets, massive cancellations in sporting, entertainment and business events, lockdown of large swaths of movements of persons in many countries, and intercontinental travel restrictions across critical air routes in the world.

The World Bank and IFC's Boards of Directors approved today an increased $14 billion package of fast-track financing to assist companies and countries in their efforts to prevent, detect and respond to the rapid spread of COVID-19. The package will strengthen national systems for public health preparedness, including for disease containment, diagnosis, and treatment, and support the private sector.

Two days after it unveiled a six-point palliative to ameliorate the continued impact of the corona virus on the Nigerian economy and supply chains round the globe, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced its decision to increase its intervention in boosting local manufacturing and import substitution by another N1trillion across all critical sectors of the economy.

On behalf of the CEO members of Business Roundtable who lead companies with, collectively, over 15 million employees, we applaud your bipartisan efforts to keep Americans safe from COVID-19 and to deliver much-needed assistance, especially to those most vulnerable.

The Lagos State Government has urged all residents of the state to reduce all forms of public and social gatherings as part of preventive measures to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus disease in the State.

Following the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and pursuant to the provisions of Rule 19.1: Rules Relating to Board Meetings and General Meetings of Issuers, Rulebook of The Exchange, 2015 (Issuers' Rules), The Nigerian Stock Exchange (The Exchange) wishes to advise all listed companies that plan to hold their Annual General Meetings (AGM) to put in place adequate precautionary measures to ensure the safety of all stakeholders at the meetings.

Notore Chemical Industries Plc postpones its Annual General Meeting as a result of the health advisory of the World Health Organisation and the travel ban directives issued by the Federal Government to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Nigeria.

COVID-19 is spreading very quickly. This is no longer a regional issue-it is a challenge calling for a global response. Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have been hit later than other regions from the pandemic and therefore have a chance to flatten the curve of contagion.

The Coronavirus pandemic is rightly causing a lot of anxiety globally including Nigeria. Customers of Ecobank have been encouraged by the Bank to utilize its digital self-service solutions, including Ecobank Mobile App, Ecobank Online, EcobankPay, Ecobank OmniPlus, OmniLite and the RapidTransfer App without having to visit branches. This is as part of efforts to ensure social distancing which will help curtail the spread of COVID-19.

COVID-19 is rattling the healthcare, financial and economic systems around the world. Although, the impact on Africa countries initially seemed to be limited to the external account and financial markets, which are considered secondary due to net foreign capital reversals.

Global ports will see reduced trade volumes as a result of the coronavirus, COVID-19, which would become more severe should Chinese production take time to recover to pre-epidemic levels, says Fitch Rating

The recent global health scares - coronavirus (Covid-19) in Asia and Lassa fever in Nigeria - give a sense of deja vu, reminding us of the days of Ebola, SARS and other health scares in the past.

The Ministry of Health in Lagos State has confirmed its first case of COVID-19 and reported it to the Federal Ministry of Health. The case, which was confirmed on the 27th of February 2020, is the first to be reported in Nigeria since the outbreak in China in January 2020.

The Ministry of Health in Lagos State has confirmed its first case of COVID-19 and reported it to the Federal Ministry of Health. The case, which was confirmed on the 27th of February 2020, is the first to be reported in Nigeria since the outbreak in China in January 2020

The coronavirus, Covid-19, has now infected more than 83,000 in at least 53 countries. Significant selloffs ensued across global markets this week, as cases of the virus outside China jolted up.

COVID-19 panic spread across global markets last week causing an 11% week-on-week drop in the S&P 500, the worst week for equities since 2008. This sentiment spilled over into commodities prices, which fell 1.8% as measured by the IHS Markit Material Price Index (MPI).

Uncertainty over the intensity, geographic reach and duration of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is negatively impacting primary market activity and significantly increasing volatility, making it likely that capital markets revenue at the global trading and universal banks (GTUBs) will be adversely affected, Fitch Ratings says.

The outbreak of COVID-19 disrupted economic activities in China, with sources and recent PMI data suggesting material impact on growth. However, the escalation of the virus to countries other than China is already having a reverberating effect on the outlook for the global economy in Q1 and even the rest of the year.

As the Global economy responds to the pressures of COVID-19, the impact of the disease on key economic sectors like aviation , tourism, technology, financial services, stock markets, infrastructure, oil & energy, sports, arts and entertainment amongst other sectors continues to dominate the news.

Last week, performance in the Nigerian Treasury Bills ("NT-Bills") market was mixed albeit slightly bullish as average yield across all tenors shed 1bp to close at 4.0% on Friday. The week started off on a bearish note as investors traded cautiously amidst the COVID-19 breakout fears with sell offs witnessed on the short and medium term maturities.

Given the current global outbreak of the novel Coronavirus and its potential of causing significant disruption to health services in the country as well as impacting negatively on the economy, President Muhammadu Buhari has established a Presidential Task Force for the Control of the Coronavirus-19 Disease (COVID-19).

Beyond the ravaging impact of Covid-19, the unusual fallout between the OPEC coalition further magnified the downside for crude oil prices over the last few weeks. Specifically, while OPEC had recommended additional output cut of 1.5mbpd (split 1mbpd for OPEC and 500,000bpd for non-OPEC) in response to reduced oil demand stemming from the COVID-19 virus

The dual impact of COVID-19 and the significant oil price shock will put pressure on some sovereign credit fundamentals and potentially ratings, Fitch Ratings says.