The World Bank announced on Wednesday ( 12 July ) that the economic growth in the conflict-torn country of Myanmar will be around 1 % for the 2024-2025 fiscal year as escalating violence, labor shortages, and a depreciating currency make it more difficult to conduct business.
The World Bank had predicted that Myanmar’s economy would grow by about 2 % over the course of the year in December, following an estimated GDP growth of 1 % for the fiscal year that ended in March 2024.
” The downward revision in projected growth for FY2024/25 is mainly due to the persistence of high inflation and considerations on access to labour, foreign exchange, and power, all of which are likely to have larger consequences on task than was previously expected”, the World Bank said in a statement.
Since a 2021 coup by the military, which ended a century of cautious political and economic reform, the Southeast Asian nation of about 55 million individuals has been in political and economic upheaval.
Myanmar’s dictatorship earlier this year announced a recruitment plan to recharge its exhausted military force in the face of a growing armed resistance against its rule.
According to the World Bank,” the mandated conscription announcement in February 2024 has increased migration to remote areas and overseas, leading to more studies of labor shortages in some business.”
Additionally, the junta has lost access to some important land borders between China and Thailand, which has caused a significant decline in inland trade.
” Excluding biological gas, exports through land borders declined by 44 per cent”, the World Bank said. ” Imports via land borders decreased by half, accounting for 71 % of the decline in overall imports,” the statement read.
Compared to the same time last month, the World Bank reported that overall, goods exports and imports dropped by 13 % and 20 % in the six months to March 2024.