Myanmar Economic Monitor, June 2023 : A Fragile Recovery - Special Focus on Employment, Incomes and Coping Mechanisms

Following the significant volatility that characterized much of 2022, economic conditions in Myanmar have shown tentative signs of stabilization in the first half of 2023. The parallel market exchange rate remained broadly stable between January and May, albeit 27 percent lower against the US dollar than in June 2022 and depreciation pressures appear to have reemerged in recent weeks. In the medium-term, the deep contraction in 2021, the ensuring weak and uneven recovery, and increasing policy distortions will leave the economy permanently scarred. Many of the trends observed at household, firm and industry levels are likely to damage the productive capacity of the economy, in addition to their direct impacts on welfare and inequality. Increased reliance on coping mechanisms such as asset sales and reduced spending on health, education and agricultural inputs will curtail the longer-term earnings capacity of households. There has been little evidence of productivity-enhancing structural transformation in recent years; instead, more highly educated workers have moved into agriculture and away from higher productivity activities. Migration in recent years has been mostly forced, lowering the potential for income and productivity gains with recent migrants across states and regions within Myanmar tending to be worse off across various welfare indicators. And while interventionist measures to promote import substitution and self-sufficiency can generate employment and activity in the short term, in the long run, growth is likely to suffer as resources move toward activities that are less compatible with local factor endowments, and as the scope for productivity gains from specialization and exposure to international competition diminishes. Increased out-migration of more skilled workers and the sharp slowdown of foreign investment inflows will further constrain Myanmar's prospects for development over the longer term