- World Bank recommends Laos to raise VAT tax and taxes on tobacco and alcohol
- Recommendations aimed at addressing high inflation and currency depreciation
- Government should spend more on healthcare and education for future development
- Debt reached $18.7 billion at the end of 2022, destabilizing the economy
- Over half of the debt is owed to China
- Government approved 192 concession projects worth almost $5 billion in 2023
- Most investors are from China and Vietnam, focused on mining, energy, and agriculture
- Service payments on debt could rise to 39% of GDP
- Currency depreciation caused by shortage of foreign currencies
- Raising VAT and increasing revenue from tobacco and alcohol sales would stabilize finances
- Government cracking down on corruption and eliminating ineffective state enterprises
- New import-export requirements implemented by national bank
Source: rfa.org
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
