Malaysia’s economy suffered its worst contraction in more than 20 years during the second quarter, hit by a collapse in global trade and tough curbs to contain the coronavirus, the central bank said Friday.
The economy shrank 17.1 percent on-year in April-June — the first since the global financial crisis in 2009 and the deepest since the Asian financial turmoil 11 years before that — putting it on course for recession.
The reading was much worse than the 10.9 percent drop forecast in a survey by Bloomberg News, despite interest rates being cut to record lows.
It shrank 16.5 percent on-quarter.Wan Suhaimi Saidi, an economist at Kenanga Investment Bank, warned that the trade-dependent economy was “heading into a recession since there is no sign of a full recovery in demand and business activity”.
