KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — Malaysia’s economy has shown a recovery from the second quarter of 2020 when the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrunk by a record low of 17.1 per cent, as it now marks a smaller decline of -2.7 per cent in the third quarter this year.
In a joint presentation online today by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), DOSM’s Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin noted: “In the third quarter, Malaysia’s GDP growth rebounded significantly by registering -2.7 per cent from a sharp decline of -17.1 per cent in the previous quarter.”
Malaysia recorded a GDP of just 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, as compared to the first quarter in the past few years (4.5 per cent in Q1 2019, 5.2 per cent in Q1 2018, and 5.6 per cent in Q1 2017).
In the second quarter of 2020, Malaysia’s economy shrunk by a record low of 17.1 per cent. The last record low was about 22 years ago, in the fourth quarter of 1998 when the GDP declined by 11.2 per cent.
The last time that Malaysia had recorded negative rates for quarterly GDP growth was in 2009.
BNM had in April said Malaysia’s GDP growth rate for the entire year of 2020 is projected to be between -2.0 and 0.5 per cent, but in August revised the forecast for 2020 downwards to between -3.5 per cent and -5.5 per cent.
BNM had in August also predicted that the economy will rebound in 2021, with a projected GDP growth rate of 5.5 per cent to 8.0 per cent.
Source: MALAYMAIL