Economy to grow by 7 pct, inflation to drop to 2.9 pct in 2012

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday that the country's economic growth is forecast at 7 percent and the inflation rate is expected to go down to 2.9 percent this year. "We still maintain our forecast of 7 percent growth and the latest forecast showed that the inflation rate is about 2.9 percent this year," he said at a graduation ceremony of students at Asia-Europe University. The growth came from the increases in garment exports, tourism and construction, he said, adding agriculture sector was also expected to see positive growth. According to official reports, during the first eight months of this year, the country exported garment products in equivalent to 3.54 billion U.S. dollars, a 11 percent rise compared with the same period last year, whilst on the tourism side, it attracted some 2.33 million foreign tourists, a 24 percent rise compared with the same period last year. For construction, the country attracted investment of 1.83 billion U.S. dollars in construction projects in the first 9 months of this year, a 83 percent rise. The premier's growth prediction was higher than that by international institutions. Earlier this month, the Asian Development Bank said the country's GDP growth this year was 6.4 percent, and the International Monetary Fund said the growth was 6. 5 percent, whilst the World Bank put the country's growth at 6.6 percent.