By Ma Ma - Jun 12, 2024

According to the Myanmar Economic Monitoring Report released by the World Bank on June 12th, the number of poor people in Myanmar has increased by 7 million compared to the report before the Covid-19 epidemic.

In the statement, it is stated that, 32 percent of the country's population have reached a state of poverty only by the beginning of 2024, returning to the situation seen in 2015.

"We can't feed our stomach anymore. We still can afford 3 meals per day but we can't eat as much as we used to. The rice price has also gone up. Other costs are also raising, so we can't afford like before," a resident from Shwe Pyi Thar Township, Yangon said.

Economic growth is expected to continue to slow as Myanmar's economy is affected by the conflict that hinders manufacturing and the country facing challenges due to economic instability and displacement, the report said.

"Decreasing investment in health and education, declining employment, scarcity of good jobs and the loss of domestic human resources due to a growing expatriate population may further delay economic development in the long run," World Bank's Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao Program Leader and Senior Economist Kim Allen Edwards said.

As inflation and unemployment rates are expected to continue to rise, the poverty situation will worsen across Myanmar, while falling incomes and household austerity hampering consumption and retail trade, the report said.