IMF Predicts 8.5 Percent Growth

Myanmar’s economy should grow 8.5 percent during the current fiscal year, higher than earlier forecast thanks mainly to rising gas production and investment, the International Monetary Fund said in June.

In January, the IMF predicted that Myanmar would have 7.7 percent growth during the fiscal year that ends March 2015.

The fund left unchanged its forecast that inflation during the fiscal year will be 6.5 percent.

The IMF, which set up a monitoring program in Myanmar in 2013, said it would “intensify” its technical assistance and training. Team leader Matt Davies told Reuters the Central Bank of Myanmar had undergone “huge change” over the past two years, including gaining independence from the Finance Ministry and managing a floating exchange rate.

Mr. Davies welcomed Myanmar’s decision to allow a handful of foreign banks to begin limited operations after they receive licenses in September. However, he noted that their entry “will place further demands on macroeconomic policy and stretch supervision capacity.”

The IMF also warned that structural frailties threatened prospects for growth and urged the government to implement broad structural and policy reforms. –Reuters

Visa-Free Travel Deals Pending

Visa-free travel into Myanmar for all citizens of Asean, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, should be implemented by the end of this year, the country’s tourism industry chief said.

Myanmar has already signed visa-free agreements with five of the 10 Asean members, but negotiations have still to be finalized with four other countries, including neighbor Thailand, said tourism federation secretary-general U Kyi Thein Ko.

Myanmar aims to achieve visa-free travel across the

10 member countries by the time Naypyitaw hands over the chairmanship in January, he told regional travel trade publication TTR Weekly.

Next year is also supposed to herald the beginning of the Asean Economic Community, a European Union-style open trading market.

Myanmar has signed visa-free agreements with Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam Philippines and Brunei, but has still to sign with Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, TTR Weekly said. –William Boot

Two New Airlines Await Green Light

Two new domestic airlines are expecting to get the green light “soon” to begin flying both domestic and regional scheduled routes, according to U Win Swe Tun, the director general of Myanmar’s Department of Civil Aviation.

“Both Apex and FMI are waiting for approval from the MIC [Myanmar Investment Commission] to start operating scheduled flights. All documents are in the last stage of approval,” U Win Swe Tun said.

The two prospective carriers, both owned by Myanmar business tycoons, will be based in Naypyitaw.

Apex Airlines intends to serve the capital, Myeik, Mandalay, Heho, Yangon, Dawei, Nyaung U and Kawthaung domestically, as well as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. Apex is owned by U Khin Soe, a businessman with interests in the fishing, hotel, and petroleum industries.

A subsidiary of the First Myanmar Investment (FMI) Company has been offering chartered flights, as well as a regular daily service between Yangon and Naypyitaw, and is looking to expand into scheduled flight services. FMI Air Charter Ltd currently offers chartered flights with two planes—an ATR-42 and Beech 1900-D—rented from state-run Myanma Airways.

FMI was established in the early 1990s as part of SPA Myanmar, a conglomerate of more than 40 businesses owned by the business tycoon Serge Pun. –Kyaw Hsu Mon