The Malaysian economy contracted 17.1% in the second quarter of 2020 (2Q2020) from a year earlier on the back of containment measures implemented to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic both at home and abroad.
“In Malaysia, the nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO) included various measures that restricted production and consumption activities,” Bank Negara Malaysia said in a statement today.
“This resulted in demand and supply shocks that emanated not only from significantly weak external demand conditions, but also production constraints in many economic sectors. Additionally, there was a marked decline in tourism activity due to international border closures and restricted interstate travel.
“On the supply side, most economic sectors registered negative growth, while most expenditure components declined. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, the economy contracted by 16.5%.
“During the quarter, headline inflation was at -2.6%, mainly due to substantially lower retail fuel prices compared to last year and the tiered electricity tariff rebate. Core inflation moderated slightly to 1.2%,” BNM said.
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