Illustrative image (Source: mmtimes.com)Hanoi (VNA) - Myanmar exported 1.12 milliontonnes of rice in the last six months, earning over 390 million USD, accordingto an announcement of the Myanmar Rice Federation.
In the period, Myanmar’s rice, including broken rice, wasshipped to 61 countries from April to September 2018, the federation said.
Rice and broken rice export through border checkpoints earned an estimated 226.9million USD, whereas the sea trade fetched 163.9 million USD.
Previously,the Government of Myanmar changed the start of fiscal year from April toOctober from 2018-2019, creating a transition period of six months.
In the fiscal 2017-2018, Myanmar exported 3.6million tonnes of rice and broken rice, earning 1.11 billion USD. The country isexpected to ship 2.5 million tonnes of rice abroad in 2018 as it is a keyagricultural product of the country.
Besides rice exports, Myanmar is also trying to promote other export productsincluding peas and seafood, textiles, timber and forestry products, and rubberto tackle the country's trade deficit.
The Asia Development Outlook 2018 recently announced by the Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB) forecasts that Myanmar's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow 6.6percent in 2018 and 7 percent in 2019.
The Southeast Asian nation’s inflation rate is expected to be around 6.2percent in 2018 and 6 percent in 2019, while the current account deficit willbe at 3 percent of GDP in 2018 and 4 percent of GDP in 2019.-VNA
VNA
