Laos economy grew 7.6 per cent in fiscal year 2008-09

Nov 4, 2009, 4:32 GMT

   Vientiane, Laos - Land-locked Laos' gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.6 per cent in the fiscal year that ended September 30, thanks to the government's stimulus package and a good dollop of foreign aid, state media reported Wednesday.

   Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh told the 9th annual meeting on Official Development Assistance and Development in Laos that the communist country had attained its objectives in macroeconomic stabilization and achieving 7.5 per cent GDP growth in fiscal 2008-09, the Vientiane Times newspaper reported.

   He attributed the impressive growth to the government stimulus package, much of it going to projects related to the South-East Asia Games that Vientiane will host next month, and foreign aid, which still accounts for about 50 per cent of the budget.

   'Lao Minister of Planning and Investment Sinlavong Khoutphaythoune said that in the 2008-09 fiscal year international assistance to Laos amounted to 560 million dollars, comprising 383 million dollars in grants and 177 million dollars in loans,' the state-owned newspaper reported.

    United Nations Development Programe (UNDP) resident representative Sonam Yangchen Rana noted that poverty had declined to 26 per cent of the total population in recent years, compared with 33.5 per cent in 2002 and 46 per cent in 1992.

   Bouasone acknowledged that despite the good performance, the economy was still overly dependent on the exploitation of natural resources and foreign aid.

   'These are the fundamental issues posing challenges to our development and integration efforts,' Bouasone told the annual aid meeting, which was held in Vientiane on Tuesday.