IMF cuts 2011 growth outlook to below 6%

Damage to Cambodia’s rice crop from widespread flooding earlier this year will likely cause economic growth to fall below 6 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which yesterday offered the lowest gross domestic product (GDP) prediction so far… In a statement, the IMF chose to only provide a fixed estimate on GDP growth, excluding the country’s flood-hit agricultural sector. Not accounting for the damage caused by the floods, the IMF said that economic growth would reach 7.5 percent this year, the highest rate in four years. The real figures, however, show how big of a blow flooding had on the economy this year and how well other sectors of the economy are performing in comparison. Asked why the IMF had decided to only provide a GDP figure excluding production in agriculture, Olaf Unteroberdoerster, deputy division chief for the IMF’s Asia and Pacific department, said: “Under the current circumstances, with the floods and the fact that agricultural output is more volatile, we consider that a measure of non-agriculture GDP growth is a better barometer of the underlying strength of Cambodia’s economy.”…