Malaysia’s Central Bank Records Worst Ever GDP Contraction in the Second Quarter of 2020

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) reported that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had contracted by 17.1% year-on-year (YoY) in the second quarter of 2020 (2Q 2020) due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) instated by the Government of Malaysia to control the COVID-19 pandemic. The contraction is the lowest on record since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1998 which saw a contraction of 11.2% YoY in its fourth quarter, said the Chief Statistician of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.

The country recorded a GDP growth of 4.5% YoY in the first quarter of 2020, until it began to free-fall during the three phases of the MCO and Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) set in place to flatten Malaysia’s CO...