Workers use crane as they unload chemical-fertilizer bags from a ship at Asia World port in Yangon, Myanmar, 02 July 2014. Photo: Lynn Bo Bo/EPA
Following recent institutional and policy reforms and international re-engagement, Myanmar can expect economic growth to reach 8.5 percent this year and next, says a press release published by the World Bank on October 6.
This figure is above the average for ‘Developing East Asia’ which will as a whole “grow by 6.9 percent this year and next, down from 7.2 percent in 2013,” according to the press release that references the World Bank’s latest East Asia Pacific Economic Update.
It continued to predict that “Developing countries in East Asia Pacific will see slightly slower economic growth this year, but the pace of growth in the region, excluding China, will pick up next year, as the gradual recovery in high-income economies boosts demand for exports from the region.”
Dr Kan Zaw, Union Minister for National Planning and Economic Development revealed to Mizzima after a press conference held at the Yangon Region government office on October 5 that Myanmar has GDP growth targets of 9.1 percent for the 2014-15 fiscal year and 9.2 percent for 2015-16.
