Moody’s predicts Malaysia’s third quarter GDP declines by 5.2%

Due to stringent movement control restrictions which have dampened domestic consumption and fixed investments, Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to contract by 5.2% in the Q3 this year.

According to Moody’s Analytical Asia Pacific Economic Preview, the nation’s GDP contracted by 17.1% in Q2, and the country’s economy and external position were also affected by the large-scale shutdown across major economies.

However, Moody’s Analytics economist, Shahana Mukherjee said that since then, overseas demand has picked up along with domestic spending as the localised outbreak is brought under control. “These factors are expected to have revived domestic income in the September quarter,” she said in a research note.

According to Moody’s Analytics, in the region, Indonesia’s Q3 GDP contracted by 3.5% compared with a decline of 5.3% in the previous quarter while Philippines’ GDP is also likely to contract by 6% in Q3 following a decline of 16.5% in the previous quarter.

Indonesia has slipped into a recession for the first time since the Asian financial crisis in 1998 and the strict lockdown in the Philippines has weighed heavily on the country’s domestic investment and consumption, and exports plunged by 40%.

-Bernama