There is no question that many of the headlines are very worrying. However, the actual statistics are not as bleak as these headlines may suggest. In this issue, and over the next couple of weeks, we will share the many silver linings in the country’s most recently published data.
The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on global economies, which may take some time to fully recover, what with the recent resurgence in new cases that has forced a slowdown in the reopening of the economy in many countries, including Malaysia.
Malaysia’s GDP contracted 17.1% y-o-y in 2Q2020, far worse than the 11.2% drop in 4Q1998 at the peak of the Asian financial crisis. The sombre data is not surprising given that all non-essential activities were forced to shut down while those deemed essential were only allowed to operate at well below capacity. The majority of businesses are still running at subpar capacity.
