December 9: Myanmar’s economy is showing tentative signs of recovery, with gross domestic product expected to grow 3% in the next fiscal year despite persistent conflict and the severe impact of a major earthquake earlier this year, the World Bank said on Monday.
The bank said the projected rebound would be driven largely by post-earthquake reconstruction efforts and continued targeted support for the hardest-hit regions. But it warned that inflation would remain elevated at above 20%.
“These early signs of recovery are encouraging,” Melinda Good, the World Bank’s Division Director for Thailand and Myanmar, said in a statement. “However, Myanmar’s economy continues to face formidable obstacles, including constrained reconstruction financing, ongoing conflict and insecurity, and unreliable electricity supply.”
The junta did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The World Bank had earlier projected the economy to contract 2.5% in the current fiscal year ending in March after the powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck in March, affecting more than 17 million people — nearly a third of the population. Direct damage to homes, public buildings, and infrastructure was estimated at $11 billion, or 14% of GDP.
Myanmar has been engulfed in turmoil since the military seized power in 2021, toppling an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The coup triggered mass protests that escalated into a nationwide armed resistance against the junta.
The military government plans to begin multi-phase elections on Dec. 28, which Western governments and human rights groups have criticised as an attempt to cement the generals’ hold on power.
