BNM pessimistic about Malaysia’s economic growth this year

Illustrative image (Photo: Internet)

Hanoi (VNA) -  The Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said on April 3 that Malaysia’s economic growth could shrink as much as minus 2 percent to 0.5 percent this year as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

The lower end of the prediction is the most pessimistic to date, exceeding the World Bank’s revised outlook of a 0.1 percent contraction for Malaysia this year, according to its Economic Monetary Review 2019 report.

The report said the pandemic introduced significant uncertainties as a result of countries’ measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, putting pressure on global trade that grew by just 1 percent last year due to unresolved trade tensions.

Apart from the pandemic, the domestic economy will also be affected by the sharp decline and volatility in global oil prices as well as possible fluctuations in the production of key commodities such as palm oil.

The BNM acknowledged that the extension of the unprecedented movement control order (MCO) to contain COVID-19 would weigh on economic activities but projected a recovery as early as the second half of 2020 or 2021 at the latest.

As of April 2, Malaysia recorded a total of 3,116 COVID-19 cases, of them 767 have recovered and 50 died./.