Impact of Corona Virus Outbreak on Malaysian Trade

Abstract

The novel coronavirus strain (COVID-19) has not only affected countless human lives all over the world, but it has also been predicted to have a potentially adverse impact on the global economy. In relation to this, Malaysia's economy is likely to be affected due to the rapid slowdown of China's global trade activities. The objective of this study is to identify the changes in the major exports and imports in Malaysia between December 2019 and January 2020. The findings show that only the exports of electric and electronic products, as well as liquefied natural gas, have shown positive growth during the observation period, whilst the manufacture of metal and crude petroleum decreased. Moreover, the total volume of export goods sent to China was also reduced. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the Malaysian economy and trade, but it is likely to recover with recent Malaysian government incentives.

Keywords: Coronavirus, Trade balance, Import, Export, Trade

JEL Classification: l1, F1, F41