Myanmar’s economy to grow 6.5 percent in 2018-19 fiscal year: WB

Hanoi (VNA) – Myanmar’s economy is forecast to expand 6.5 percent in the 2018-2019 fiscal year (from October, 2018 to September, 2019), according to a recent World Bank (WB) report.

According to the WB's Myanmar Economic Monitor Building Reform Momentum Report, the country’s growth continues to be broad-based, supported by the industrial and service sectors.

Industrial activities revived, supported by strong performance in the garment sector and construction activities, it said.

Gevorg Sargsyan, head of the office of the WB Myanmar said that the acceleration of the reform agenda as envisioned in the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan, along with targeted public investment and private sector participation, will lead to a consolidation of macroeconomic stability and help Myanmar maintain its momentum and meet its long-term growth targets.

With growth expected to rise to 6.7 percent in 2020-21, the WB report projects a positive outlook for Myanmar's economy despite a deteriorating global environment, due to accelerated implementation of reform, infrastructure spending and investment in sectors such as wholesale and retail, insurance and banking that are undergoing liberalization.

The report estimates Myanmar's inflation to stabilize at 6.6 percent in the medium term, saying that inflationary pressure could increase due to volatile global energy prices and the possibility that the government may raise electricity tariffs to bring them in line with the cost of power production.

In the power sector, the report argues that Myanmar needs to invest twice as much and implement projects three times faster to meet growing demand.-VNA