MoI

 

Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing has publicly rejected the World Bank’s prediction that the country’s economy will contract by 2.5% in 2025–26, claiming the assessment is “inaccurate and incomplete” despite growing domestic and international concerns over Myanmar’s economic collapse.

 

Speaking at a National Economic Development Coordination Meeting on Wednesday, the junta chief insisted that Myanmar’s GDP would rise from $76.4 billion in 2024–25 to $81.6 billion in the coming financial year. He downplayed external analysis, saying, “Regardless of forecasts, if the people remain committed and hardworking, we can defy these expectations and achieve real GDP growth.”

 

The World Bank’s June report projected economic shrinkage mainly due to the devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck in March, which caused an estimated $11 billion in damage—about 14% of GDP. The Bank cited factory closures, infrastructure damage, labour shortages, and disrupted supply chains as key obstacles to recovery.

 

Min Aung Hlaing, who previously acknowledged 3.62 trillion kyats ($1.7 billion) in direct earthquake-related losses, dismissed the broader World Bank findings. The junta routinely rejects analyses by global organisations, including the UN, accusing them of bias and faulty data.

 

However, on the ground, conditions tell a different story. Myanmar faces a mounting economic and humanitarian crisis. Ongoing civil conflict, rampant inflation, a plunging kyat, mass displacement, and power outages continue to paralyse daily life for millions. The junta’s promises of electric railways, stable exports, and modern agriculture remain unfulfilled more than four years after the 2021 coup.

 

Social media users swiftly mocked Min Aung Hlaing’s growth forecast, with many suggesting the only real growth is in the fortunes of his inner circle. His son Aung Pyae Sone and daughter Khin Thiri Thet Mon, both under US sanctions, reportedly control vast business empires in sectors ranging from healthcare and construction to entertainment and telecoms.

 

While Min Aung Hlaing paints an optimistic picture of economic resilience, international experts say Myanmar’s trajectory suggests deepening instability and hardship—with little sign of recovery on the horizon.

 

-2025-07-04

We dismiss election results, we bomb our people at random slaughtering tens of thousands, but our economy is booming. Everybody wants to do business with us, tourists are flooding into the country, and investors are lining up, everybody wants a piece of Burma. 

Not many political leaders in the world that aren't deluded.