Economy shrinks 24%, officially enters recession

The economy grew by 2.6 percent in the 12 months to March 2020, before plummeting as COVID-19 forced the closure of borders, reduced demand and prices for the country’s key commodities and inhibited productive activity through movement restrictions.

On Tuesday afternoon, experts said the country was in a technical recession as it had experienced two consecutive quarters of negative growth, on a quarter-on-quarter basis. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the economy shrank by 0.8% between January and March and then by -24.8% between April and June. On a year-on-year basis, the economy grew by 2.6 percent in the first quarter to March 2020, then fell by 24% in the quarter to June 2020.