KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 2): The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) has launched the Malaysia Economic Recovery Dashboard (MERD), a platform that serves as a quick overview of the country’s economic situation.

The dashboard contains nine key economic indicators, namely gross domestic product (GDP), labour force, commodities, prices, manufacturing, services, international trade, balance of payments and other indicators, which include 39 sub-indicators in the form of monthly, quarterly and annual time series.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the MERD was launched by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed on Thursday (Dec 2). 

“The MERD is the latest initiative by the DOSM to increase public awareness and understanding, besides assisting the government's efforts to revive the economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“Through the MERD, the public are able to know the key economic indicators and the relationship between the sub-indicators that provide the current economic and recovery scenario, and the DOSM hopes that the public will benefit and fully utilise the dashboard,” he said in a statement.

According to Mohd Uzir, the pandemic had significantly affected the country's economy with GDP contracting by 5.6% and the unemployment rate reaching 4.5% last year. 

He said the economic performance improved in the first half of this year, followed by a smaller contraction of 1.1% in September 2021 from a contraction of 4.7% in August and 7.6% in July, due to the implementation of the National Recovery Plan by the government. 

“The MERD is relevant in the current scenario to monitor and assist the government in revitalising the economy and rakyat’s well-being,” he said.

In addition to the newly launched dashboard, there are also indicators related to Covid-19 from various sources, such as Google Mobility Trends and the Covid-19 Surveillance Dashboard available for the public to monitor the pandemic scenario in the country.

The MERD, Google Mobility Trends and Covid-19 Surveillance Dashboard are accessible through https://www.dosm.gov.my/.