Yangon, September (10)
The Myanmar Seafarers’ Federation (MSF) issued a statement on September 8, quoting the Ayeyarwady Bank’s statement that the central bank has instructed it to purchase the foreign wages of sailors at the highest possible rate.
Sailors have the right to directly sell the foreign salary received from the savings bank account of Ayeyarwady Bank to other buyers, but it must be done within 21 days from the date of receiving the foreign currency.
Moreover, the statement also said that if you receive your foreign salary from a local representative in foreign currency and pay it to the banks in Myanmar, you will receive kyats at a high exchange rate.
However, accepting the withdrawal of Myanmar currency from the local representative is only the consent of the holders, and the Myanmar Seafarers’ Federation (MSF) said that it is difficult to predict whether the exchange rate will be as set by the bank.
On August 31, the Central Bank announced that Myanmar citizens working overseas can legally transfer their foreign currency earnings through AD licensed banks and use them as they wish.
The Revenue Department has given incentives that the money transferred from abroad to the country will be exempt from tax if it is used for the purchase of vehicles, the purchase of basic goods, construction, and investment.
In more than a year and a half since the military coup, the central bank set the exchange rate at 2,100 kyats to one dollar, but in the open market, the exchange rate rose to more than 3,000 kyats.
Therefore, since the official money transfer through banks is only 2,100 kyats, overseas workers are only using other money transfer methods with higher exchange rates, and the central bank’s announcement will not work, according to financial analysts.
News – Than Lwin Times