Myanmar’s Economic Year in Review
Myanmar s business hub, Yangon. / Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy
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By Nan Lwin 25 December 2020
YANGON The Myanmar government began 2020 with high expectations that it would be the year the economic liberalization and reforms it introduced during the previous four years would begin to bear fruit. However, the COVID-19 pandemic upended its plans, slowing Myanmar’s economic growth to 1.7 percent in fiscal 2019-20 from 6.8 percent in 2018-19, not only hammering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the tourism and garment/textile sectors, but also delaying important economic events and activities needed to spur foreign direct investment (FDI).