World Bank forecasts slower growth for Cambodia in 2015

The World Bank said Monday that Cambodia's economic growth is projected to slightly moderate to 6.9 percent this year, 0.1 percentage point lower than that of last year.

The country's economic growth depends on traditional sectors such as garments, tourism, construction and agriculture.

"Reduced competitiveness due to increased costs, dollar appreciation, and new competitors will continue to affect garment export growth while the return to a double-digit tourist arrival growth rate is yet uncertain," the lender said in its Cambodia Economic Update.

"Agricultural growth will likely continue to be modest affected by dampened agricultural commodity prices and slow crop yield improvements," it said, adding that downside risks include potential renewed labor unrest, a delay in economic recovery in Europe, and the further dampening of rice prices with the reentry of Thailand and Myanmar.

World Bank-Cambodia senior economist Enrique Aldaz-Carroll said Cambodia's growth remains high despite slightly below the last year's 7 percent growth.

He said recent oil price decline is expected to boost the economic growth in 2015 by 0.5 percent.

The expert also hailed Cambodia for rapid poverty reduction in nearly a decade, saying that between 2004 and 2012, poverty incidence declined significantly from 50.2 percent to 17.7 percent.

He said Cambodia is on track to become a lower-middle income nation in 2015. According to the World Bank's classifications, a lower-middle income nation is defined by the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita between 1,045 U.S. dollars and 4,125 U.S. dollars.

Enrique Aldaz-Carroll said based on World Bank calculation, Cambodia's GDP per capita was 1,035 U.S. dollars last year and is expected to reach 1,096 U.S. dollars this year. Endi