BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Brunei's economy is expected to grow steadily in the next few years despite a two-percent contraction in 2018, according to the 2019 World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) report showed that Brunei's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by two percent last year but predicted a GDP growth of 4.8 percent this year.

The report said the country's GDP is expected to continue growing by 6.6 percent in 2020 and by 2.2 percent in 2024.

The World Economic Outlook estimates cover a wider range than the Asian Development Outlook released earlier this month which estimated a one-percent contraction for Brunei's economy in 2018 and one-percent and 1.5-percent growth for 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Brunei's Department of Economic Planning and Development has yet to release official GDP figures for 2018.