Moody’s says Japan, Singapore could be the worst-hit Asian economies due to coronavirus

Within Asia, Japan’s and Singapore’s economies could struggle the most due to the coronavirus pandemic, an economist from Moody’s Analytics announced on Monday.

Steve Cochrane, the firm’s chief Asia Pacific economist, said both economies were already weak before the virus outbreak worsened over the past month.

Stricter lockdown measures imposed to contain the spread of the virus will likely exacerbate their economic troubles, Cochrane added.

According to recent official data, Japan’s economy was shrinking by 6.3 percent year over year in the three months to December. Meanwhile, preliminary estimates in Singapore indicated that the economy contracted by 2.2 percent in the quarter that ended in March.