COMMENT | As hard as it is to grasp the reality of facing a recession caused by the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic and the collapse in oil price, it is really happening.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had just revised its global growth forecast, showing a total reversal from its previous estimate of 3.3 percent in January to -3.0 percent for 2020.

The more pessimistic projection is on the back of broad economic downturns - United States (-5.9 percent), Euro Area (-7.5 percent), Middle East and Central Asia (-2.8 percent), Latin America and the Caribbeans (-5.2 percent), Sub-Saharan Africa (-1.6 percent), and Emerging and Developing Asia (1.0 percent).

This is because the world has been put in a great lockdown as no country is spared from the deadly virus.

Within the Asean region, Malaysia is expected to be one of the laggards with a decline in growth by 1.7 percent, which is within Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) forecast range of -2.0 percent to 0.5 percent...