Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday that the Kingdom’s economic growth is forecast to grow at 7 per cent this year, according to news agency reports.

“We still maintain our forecast of  7 per cent growth and the latest forecast showed that the inflation rate is about 2.9 per cent this year,” he told students at a graduation ceremony at Asia-Euro University in Toul Kork.

The growth is being driven by increases in garment exports, tourism and construction, he said, adding that agriculture was also expected to see positive growth.

The prime minister’s growth prediction was higher than that of international financial institutions.

Earlier this month, the Asian Development Bank said that Cambodia’s GDP growth this year would be 6.4 per cent.

The World Bank has estimated the country’s growth at 6.6 per cent, while the International Monetary Fund put the figure at 6.5 per cent.

Masahiro Kawai, dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute, told the Post that the prime minister’s higher figures were probably due to optimism rather than an error in measurement.

“If  Mr Hun Sen thinks the European situation will improve and that the US fiscal cliff issue will beaddressed soon, that would result in a more optimistic projection,” he said.

“I fully understand as the leader of the country that he wants to encourage people to have a more positive view of the Cambodian economy,” said Kawai.

According to official reports, during the first eight months of this year, the country exported garments worth US$3.54 billion, an 11 per cent rise on the previous year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rupert Winchester at [email protected]