PHNOM PENH, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Cambodia's economy, one of the fastest growing in Southeast Asia just two years ago, will probably contract by about 2.75 percent this year, hit hard by the slowdown in the United States, the IMF said on Wednesday. "The global economic crisis is having a larger impact on Cambodia's economy than previously anticipated," David Cowen, deputy division chief for the International Monetary Fund's Asia and Pacific Department, told a news conference.
However, the economy will rebound next year with growth of 4.25 percent, added Cowen, who led a team that recently met with local finance officials as part of an IMF mission to Cambodia.
After decades of war and upheaval, including the Khmer Rouge "killing fields", Cambodia witnessed an unprecedented boom before the global financial crisis struck, its economy expanding at around 10 percent annually in the five years leading up to 2008.
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