Myanmar Poverty Deepens, Economic Growth Stagnant, World Bank Says

Poverty in Myanmar is more widespread than at any time in the last six years and growth in the conflict-torn nation is likely to remain at a measly 1% in the current fiscal year with little respite in sight, the World Bank said on Wednesday.

Escalating violence, labour shortages and a depreciating currency have made it harder to do business, the bank said in a report on the Southeast Asian nation that has been in political and economic turmoil since a 2021 military coup ended a decade of tentative democratic and economic reform.

In December, the World Bank had projected Myanmar’s economy would grow by around 2% during the current fiscal year, after estimated GDP growth of 1% in the year that ended in March 2024.

“The downward revision in projected growth for 2024/25 is largely due to the persistence of high inflation and constraints on access to labour, foreign exchange, and electricity, all of which are likely to have larger impacts on activity than was previously expected,” the World Bank said in a report.

The country’s grinding civil war, where a collection of new armed groups and established ethnic armies are beating back the junta, has led to the displacement of over 3 million people and brought poverty rates to 32.1%, reverting to 2015 levels, according to the World Bank.