Malaysia to revise 2021’s GDP forecast

Malaysia Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz. (Photo: BERNAMA)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast of between 6 and 7.5 percent this year will be revised, according to Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

He attributed it to the impact of the Full Movement Control Order (FMCO) which has been applied since the beginning of June.

Speaking at a news conference on June 29, Zafrul Aziz said a hope of a strong economic recovery for the Southeast Asian nation is dampened by the severe restrictions imposed under Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan.

Earlier on June 24, the World Bank (WB) revised down Malaysia’s GDP growth forecast to 4.5 percent in 2021 from 6 percent estimated in March amid a dramatic resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in mid-April in the latest edition of Malaysia Economic Monitor.

According to WB’s economists, Malaysia’s economic recovery is being hindered by a resurgence in infections since mid-April, coupled with the re-imposition of the Movement Control Order (MCO) that is expected to have a significant impact on private consumption.

Malaysia's economy had shrunk by 17.1 percent in the second quarter of 2020, continued to shrink by 2.7 percent and 3.4 percent in the following two quarters, and fell by 5.6 percent for the whole year. In the first quarter of this year, although Malaysia had to impose travel restrictions, the economic decline slowed down to only 0.5 percent./.