BANGKOK — Myanmar’s economy is forecast to grow only 1% in the fiscal year that ends in March, the World Bank says, as conditions deteriorate with an escalation in fighting between the military and its opponents that has newly displaced more than 500,000 people.
Intensified fighting near Myanmar‘s border with China has blocked trade routes, causing shortages of food and other necessities and worsening inflation that was already near 30%, the World Bank said in a report Tuesday.
Myanmar is embroiled in widespread conflicts that deepened and expanded after the military’s seizure of power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in early 2021 prompted a wave of popular resistance.
The total number of people displaced by fighting has risen to some 2.5 million, the report said.
Political instability coupled with the pandemic and mismanagement by the military leadership have undone…
