The payment of government officials’ salaries, investment in development projects and repayment of debts constitute the largest portion of government expenditure allocated for 2023
Read More
Laos has recorded one of the highest rates of economic growth in South-East Asia over the past two decades, but few jobs have been created.
Read More
Despite the global economic downturn, the National Assembly of Laos has set an economic growth target of at least 4.5% for 2023
Read More
The main exports included copper, rubber, bananas, cassava and other agricultural products
Read More
Residents in Lao capital tighten their belts by giving up buying trendy things, spending money wisely, growing vegetables and using domestic products to beat the spiraling inflation which hit a 22-year high in September.
Read More
Fifty-four developing economies, including Laos, that account for more than half of the world’s poorest people need urgent debt relief as a result of cascading global crises
Read More
Inflation rate in Laos surged from 30.01% in August, 2022, to 34% in September
Read More
World trade is expected to lose momentum in the second half of 2022 and remain subdued in 2023, as multiple shocks weigh on the global economy
Read More
Economic performance in Laos could be compromised by slowing global demand, rising debt, and a reliance on short-term economic fixes to cushion against food and fuel price increases
Read More
Laos, Thailand, and China are thinking about building a new railway bridge, running parallel to the first Lao-Thai friendship bridge
Read More
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lowered its 2022 economic growth outlook for Laos to 2.5 percent from 3.4 percent projected in April and to 3.5 percent from 3.7 percent for 2023.
Read More
People with low incomes across the country are concerned about their growing expenses on food following a steep rise in the prices of agricultural and food products.
Read More
Geo-economic factors mean that the concerns about Laos defaulting are unrealistic.
Read More
The main importing countries of Laos include Thailand, China, Vietnam, the United States, and Japan.
Read More
The higher prices of fuel and consumer goods and the continuing depreciation of the Lao currency kip are among the main factors driving the inflation.
Read More
The government pledged to ensure sufficient fuel is available by pursuing market-based mechanisms, saying this would minimise damage to the economy and small-scale commercial production.
Read More
Laos registered record two-way trade of US$1,100 million, including exports of US$600 million and imports worth approximately US$500 million, in March, resulting in a trade surplus of US$100 million.
Read More
The government is aiming for a trade surplus of at least US$1.55 billion this year, despite the country’s economic difficulties triggered by the Covid pandemic.
Read More
Attempts to increase the minimum wage are meeting with resistance because of the impacts on businesses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read More
In the past 42 days, fuel prices have risen four times, causing heated debate among members of the public who are increasingly concerned about the spiralling cost of consumer goods.
Read More
China topped the list of five main countries for exports with a figure of US$ 2,221 million, and the others were Thailand (US$ 2,187 million), Vietnam (US$ 1,220 million), Australia (US$ 348 million), and Switzerland (US$ 116 million).
Read More
Laos is suffering from one of the highest inflation rates in the region, raising concerns as the population suffers from financial hardship
Read More
Policymakers in Laos are studying a proposal to rise the country’s minimum wage as inflation and an increasing cost of living bites particularly low-earners
Read More
The prices of goods and services in Laos continue to rise at a rate unseen since August 2020, increasing by 5.27 percent in December last year when compared to the figures for the same period in 2020.
Read More
The government is set to hold talks with business operators to encourage them to produce more of the goods required by Chinese buyers
Read More
Thailand is Laos’ largest trading partner but the country’s main export markets continue to be China and Vietnam.
Read More
Economic growth in Laos has slowed as production and consumer spending drop amid fears of a spread of the coronavirus, with growth expected to shrink by about 50 percent
Read More
Inflation continued to increase in December, sending a strong warning that serious action is needed to rein in the price of goods and services to prevent them rising further
Read More
Is Laos on the edge of an economic boom, or a bust?
Read More
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is predicting a favourable outlook for Laos’ economic growth in the upcoming years despite the present difficulties.
Read More
Economic growth in Laos is expected to remain stable this year and next, supported by the expanding agriculture, energy, industry and services sectors, says a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report.
Read More
The Lao government expects domestic and foreign private investment to climb to 23,086 billion kip (over 2.72 million U.S. dollars) in 2019
Read More
The predicted economic slowdown in China, one of the top three foreign investors in Laos and an important trading partner, could affect the Lao economy, the government’s economic analysts have warned.
Read More
Beijing-backed US$6.7 billion high-speed railway project threatens to bust the small nation’s already fragile finances
Read More
The World Bank (WB) has predicted that Lao economic growth will be slightly lower than the Lao government and Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecasts.
Read More
The government has cleared a plan to lower its budget deficit for 2018 but it still requires more funds to repay domestic and overseas loans.
Read More
The government expects to pursue economic growth to at least seven percent in 2018, the same level expected for 2017, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The ministry is drafting the budget plan for 2018, which will be ….
The IMF also expressed concerns about the nation’s declining levels of foreign-currency reserves, a rising budget deficit and relatively high levels of public debt.
Read More
The government has approved a total of US$1.11 billion in domestic and foreign private investments during the first quarter of this year.
Read More
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that Laos’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow at 6.8 percent this year, less than the government’s projected rate of 7 percent.
The IMF Executive Board concluded the Article IV consultation [1] with Laos recently, describing Laos’ challenges in dealing with the current account deficit, falling foreign currency reserves, and growing ….
Poverty reduction has slowed a little but the government will strive to reduce the number of poor families from 6.56 percent in 2016 down to 6.09 percent by 2017, the government has told the National Assembly.
There are four main reasons for the slower rate of poverty reduction, Minister of Planning and Investment Dr Souphanh Keomixay told the ongoing ordinary session of parliament when he presented a …..
The government’s proposal to revise the next four-year budget plan (2017-2020) will see the budget deficit increase to 4.39 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), up by 0.32 percent compared to the four-year plan approved earlier by the National Assembly (NA).
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Somdy Duangdy presented the proposed plan to the ….
Revenue collection for this fiscal year reached only 95 percent of the annual plan, driving the budget deficit to 6.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), higher than the maximum of five percent usually adopted by the government.
Economists have warned that such high deficits will increase public debt, with the country having already accumulated considerable debt that will ….
The National Assembly (NA) approved the state budget plan for the next five years (2016-2020) last week, which will include a budget deficit of 27,119 billion kip.
The deficit is in line with the parliament’s approval of the five-year plan that sets the deficit at 3.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with the maximum deficit not to …..
Laos’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is expected to moderate to 6.4 percent due to lower external demand and credit growth that is offset by an increased contribution from the resource sector this year, according to the latest World Bank Report.
In addition, the East Asia Pacific region is expected to grow …..
A new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report predicts that Laos will maintain relatively robust growth in 2015 and 2016, supported by the expansion of hydropower and services.
Growth is expected to moderate to about 7.0 percent in 2015 due to continued weakening domestic demand in some sectors, before picking up to 7.2 percent in 2016, according to the recently released ADB report.
“The Lao economy remains a strong performer in the region with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2014 recorded at …
Vientiane authorities revealed last week the capital owes 237.22 billion kip (more than US$30 million) to investors who funded 118 projects, mainly in infrastructure development.
Under agreements with Vientiane authorities, project contractors invested in the projects upfront with Vientiane to repay the construction cost from the state budget at a later date. This arrangement is normal procedure for government development projects carried out amid budget constraints. However, such schemes are one of the main reasons the government has accumulated a large debt in recent years, which it is now struggling to repay.
Laos repays debt at 7.5 percent of domestic revenue and 3 percent of export revenue. It is expected the debt will …….
The government is committed to imposing measures and mechanisms to manage the country’s debts while exploring new sources of revenue and reducing loans for unnecessary expenditure.
The Lao Minister of Finance reaffirmed that the government will try to keep the debt levels at less than 40 percent of GDP, while the value of debt payment should not more than 20 percent of the value of exports and domestic revenue…..
Economic growth in 2012-13 should reach 8.3 percent if government and foreign investment projects are implemented as planned, according to the National Economic Research Institute (NERI).
The figure was reported yesterday at the ‘Lao Economy in 2012 and Outlook for 2013′ meeting, organised by the institute with support from the World Bank. The economy should continue to grow by 8.2 percent in 2013-14 and 14-2015, according to the NERI.
GDP per capita reached 10.8 million kip (about US$1,349). The agricultural sector grew by 2.8 percent, accounting for 26.7 percent of GDP; the industrial sector grew by ….
