Myanmar faces economic stagnation as rising armed conflict disrupts trade and fans inflation, while a dollar shortage is hurting imports, the World Bank said. Gross domestic product growth is forecast to weaken to 1% in the fiscal year ending in March from 4%, the World Bank said in a report on Tuesday.
“The economic situation has deteriorated, and uncertainty about the future is increasing,” said Mariam Sherman, World Bank country director for Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. Poor people are being severely impacted by high food price inflation, she said.
Armed conflict between ethnic groups and the military, which has run the country since a coup in 2021, has escalated since October, displacing half a million people. Operations at several border crossings with Thailand and India, which are key trade partners, have been disrupted, the World Bank said in its latest country-specific economic report on Myanmar.