IMF forecasts higher growth for Cambodia in 2014

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday projected that Cambodia's economy would grow by 7.2 percent this year, 0.2 percentage point higher than that of last year. The country's economic activity remains strong driven by robust exports, tourism and construction despite recent floods and some slowdown during the election in July last year. "However, political tension about the electoral process may hurt sentiment and hold back investment in 2014 even though the impact has been limited so far,"the IMF said in its Asia and Pacific Regional Economic Outlook. IMF's prediction for Cambodia was the same as the World Bank's, but higher than the 7 percent forecast by the Asian Development Bank. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has predicted that the country ' s economic growth would exceed 7 percent this year as inflation is projected to remain low at 3-4 percent.