COVID-19 has brought the worst economic impacts in the modern era, hitting the world from both, demand and supply sides simultaneously. By 18 September 2020, COVID-19 has infected more than 543,180 people in ASEAN which consists of the 10 member countries that are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam.

Boundaries between academic disciplines are always artificial creations intended to facilitate analysis, given our limitations. But as the economist Albert Hirschman once argued, there are times when it is incumbent on us to trespass them. The ongoing battle against COVID-19 and its economic fallout is such a time.

COVID-19 hit the Chinese economy hard in the first quarter of 2020, causing real gross domestic product (GDP) to contract by 6.8 percent year on year. But since the city of Wuhan emerged from lockdown in early April, the economy has gradually returned to normal, and grew by 3.2 percent in the second quarter. According to the consensus view, China’s current potential GDP growth rate is six percent.

The latest United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) progress report on ASEAN SDG Baseline highlights that ASEAN member states are already lagging behind on the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

While growth in Southeast Asia remains robust, data from the first half of 2019 indicates it has been slower than forecasted. The most recent Asian Development Bank (ADB) data suggests that Southeast Asia has grown less than anticipated, resulting in slight downward revisions to growth forecasts which now stand at 4.8 percent (2019) and 4.9 percent (2020), down from 4.9 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively.

Despite rising trade tensions and geopolitical risks, half of ASEAN’s member states are among the top drivers of global growth.The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) World Economic Outlook released last week painted a bleak future for the global economy which is in a “synchronised slowdown” and is anticipated to grow 3.0 percent this year – the weakest since the 2008 global financial crisis. It is also a 0.3 percentage point downgrade from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook in April a

In the 19th century, the world was Europeanized. In the 20th century, it was Americanized. Now, it is being Asianized – and much faster than you may think.Asia’s rise has been swift. Home to more than half of the world’s population, the region has climbed from low- to middle-income status within a single generation.

Several structural shifts have left ASEAN more exposed to an economic downturn than during the last global financial crisis a decade ago.While ASEAN did not technically slide into recession during the last global financial crisis, structural traits that cushioned the region a decade ago – such as China’s strong growth and the global demand for commodities – now offer less of a buffer noted a report by global consultancy firm Bain & Co.

Contrary to what some observers may believe, Malaysia’s economy is actually doing better than expected – although that doesn’t mean fears of a recession are unwarranted.Earlier this month, Malaysia’s central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) announced that the country’s economy grew by 4.9 percent in the second quarter of 2019, recording stronger growth than in the first quarter (4.5 percent) and beating most economists’ predictions.

China's economy grew at its slowest rate in nearly three decades in the second quarter, according to a survey of analysts, hit by the United States (US)-China trade war and weakening global demand.The world's second largest economy expanded 6.2 percent in April-June, the poll of 10 economists predicted ahead of the official release of gross domestic product (GDP) figures Monday.The reading would mark the worst quarterly growth in almost three decades but stays within the government&