Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday that the country would move from the status of a low-income to a lower-middle-income nation by the end of this year.

"We acknowledge that we are in the status of a low-income country with GDP per capita of less than 1,000 US dollars last year," he said during a graduation ceremony of students at the National Institute of Education.

"But from 2013, we will move towards graduation from a low- income to a lower-middle-income country because the GDP per capita will be 1,080 US dollars at the end of this year."

Countries with GDP per capita between 1,006 US dollars and 3, 975 US dollars are classified as lower-middle-income countries by the World Bank.

Meanwhile, President of the National Assembly Heng Samrin said that the country's economy was expected to grow more than 7 percent this year, and poverty rate would decline to 19 percent this year, down from 20 percent last year.

"Cambodia is ranked as the 15th country that obtained high economic growth in the world in the last ten years," he said in a parliamentary seminar on Monday.