Malaysian economy could shrink more than earlier forecasts - finance minister

Malaysia's economy in 2020 could shrink more than initially forecast due to extended curbs on movement imposed to stem an outbreak of the new coronavirus, the finance minister said on Saturday.

Malaysia's central bank had forecast in April for growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) of between -2% and 0.5% this year.

"But that forecast was made after just two weeks of movement curbs. We're now more than five weeks in ... so our GDP could shrink even more," Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said in an interview with a local television channel.