In his recent report to the Lao National Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith told delegates that the national GDP increased 6.5% from a year ago, bringing per capita income to $403. Inflation was brought down from over 14% from the previous year to 12.2%.
But the country experienced a trade deficit of $188 million and a budget deficit of over 2.5 trillion Kips, about $235 million at the current exchange rate of 10,900 Kips per dollar.
Listen to our Laos Economy report for detail.