Economy: general, analytical, statistical (Burma Economic Watch)

Burma Economic Watch (BEW) aims to provide up-to-date and reliable economic data and commentary on Burma's economy. It is founded on the principle that it is only when democracy and freedom return to Burma that the country and its people will be able to achieve their economic potential. Information on Burma's economy is both difficult to obtain and notoriously unreliable. BEW aims to rectify this by disseminating dependable information on Burma compiled by the IMF, the World Bank, embassy and foreign government reports, economic journals, news and business publications and other verifiable sources. Information gleaned from official Burmese Government sources is used with caution. Burma's military regime stopped publishing its own national accounts data in 1998. BEW analyses are produced by economists and other specialists who volunteer their time. The documents are free and, with appropriate acknowledgment, may be quoted without restriction. The BEW analyses are edited by Sean Turnell and Alison Vicary of the Economics Department, Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. We welcome correspondence, contributions and enquiries. Please address all correspondence to: Dr Sean Turnell, Economics Department, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia. [email protected]
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Individual Documents

Description: "Recent protests over gas prices in Burma raise a complex question: Why Is Burma -- which sits atop a massive reserve of natural gas -- such an economic basket case? Look no further than the military government's track record of abysmal economic management. Formally classified as a "least developed" country by the United Nations, Burma is mired in deep poverty. Annual per capita GDP is around $1,800 in terms of purchasing-power parity ($300 at the market exchange rate). That's considerably below the income of the next poorest members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Cambodia and Laos, which boast per capita purchasing-power parity GDPs of $2,700 and $2,100, respectively. Burma's unemployment rate is officially just over 10%, but the real figure may be closer to 30%, with many people in the labor force either underemployed or engaged in activities of very low productivity, such as subsistence farming. Add to that a moribund financial system. At a time when even Vietnam is enjoying a booming stock market, Burma boasts all of about 400 bank branches (most of which are decrepit agencies of state-owned institutions), and only 20% of the population have bank accounts. Inflation is rampant -- averaging between 30% and 40% per year over the past five years (it's currently around 50%) -- thanks to a government that for years has financed extraordinary fiscal deficits by running the printing presses..."
Creator/author: Sean Turnell
Source/publisher: Wall Street Journal Online
2007-09-04
Date of entry/update: 2007-09-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 16.42 KB
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