Nation's economy showing positive signs toward recovery: Muhyiddin

"The country's economy is starting to show positive signs towards recovery," he said in a special address on the latest development of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) which was telecast live on national television today.

He said at this time almost all sectors have been allowed to operate except a small number which are still restricted such as night clubs and entertainment centres.

These are places where the new normal is a little difficult to practise.

"The entry of foreign tourists is also not allowed to avoid the spread of import cases into the country.

"Sports activities are allowed but without the involvement of foreign participants and spectators," he said.

In line with this, he said the government has decided to extend the RMCO till Dec 31, 2020.

Previously, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said Malaysia's economy is experiencing a V-shaped recovery after taking the brunt of the lockdown following the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic and implementation of the MCO in the second quarter of this year.

Nevertheless, the central bank said the situation is not out of the woods yet as challenges linked to the pandemic and its adverse impact remains both in Malaysia and elsewhere.

In the second quarter of 2020, Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) recorded a contraction of 17.1 per cent (Q2 2019: 4.9 per cent) when the country was forced to implement the MCO to contain the spread of COVID-19.

In line with this, BNM has revised the 2020 GDP projection to -5.5 per cent to -3.5 per cent from -2 per cent to 0.5 per cent.

The country's economy is expected to recover and record growth of 5.5 per cent to 8.0 per cent in 2021.

For the record, Malaysia has implemented the MCO on March 18, 2020 which saw the economy operating at 45 per cent.

This was followed by Conditional MCO on May 4 and subsequently the RMCO from June 10 till Aug 31, 2020, which led to the reopening of the economies in stages.