COVID-19 Outbreak: An Analysis of Malaysian Household Income Class during Movement Control Order (MCO)

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused the Malaysian Government to take several steps towards the implementation of Movement Control Order (MCO). According to Bank Negara Malaysia, the implementation of MCO affects the national income with the estimated economic growth of Malaysia in 2020 which is expected to be around -2% to 0.5%. The effects of MCO due to COVID-19 not only affects the macro level but at micro level as well, especially those group of households. The group of households were expected to face high economic risk and directly affect their consumption patterns during the implementation of MCO. This study will analyze the pattern of households’ consumption in Malaysia based on different income groups which is B40 and M40 during the implementation of MCO due to the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show that the groups of household experienced changes in daily consumption patterns after the implementation of MCO. In addition, due to insufficient savings, this has caused the households stay anxious of their consumption especially if the MCO is further extended for longer period.