KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — The severity of the current Covid-19 pandemic is worse than the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.
Dr Mahathir, who steered Malaysia’s recovery during the turbulent period then, also said he expected the global outbreak to hit the economy even further, amid the worsening situation worldwide.
“This is worse than the financial crisis. This is really a terrible blow to the economies of the whole world,” he was quoted saying in a Bloomberg TV interview.
Dr Mahathir joins fellow world leaders in recent weeks, warning that the virus impact may be worse than past periods of upheaval.
Dr Mahathir also said investor confidence was not only low in Malaysia, but globally as well, as the pandemic has disrupted the movement of people and supply chains.
“Because if you invest and you cannot sell, you don’t invest.
“Consumers are likely to focus only on food and health products, which may still attract some investments,” he added.
At the same time, Dr Mahathir also expressed doubt over the new Perikatan Nasional government’s ability to steer the country to recovery.
“This is the wrong time to take over the government. The country has never been in such a state before,” he said.
The World Health Organisation has declared the Covid-19 outbreak, which has swept through at least 150 countries, a global pandemic.
It’s the first time the WHO has called an outbreak a pandemic since the H1N1 “swine flu” in 2009.
