Mawlamyine, 17 August
As gold prices surged and the dollar and baht strengthened on August 16, almost all trading for them in the market came to a halt, gold entrepreneurs and money changers told Than Lwin Times.
The exchange rate for one US dollar was around 3,100 kyats at the beginning of August; however, the price has since surged to over 3,700 kyats, with the baht exchange rate jumping to over 100 kyats.
Furthermore, trading gold was suspended after the price of 24K gold increased from 3.5 million kyats to more than 3.8 million kyats per tical.
The military council’s printing of new 20,000 kyat banknotes, the suspension of Thai-Myanmar trade, and market speculation, the local gold price and the currency value of the dollar and baht have soared dramatically.
A gold trader said, “The dollar exchange rate was 3,680 kyats yesterday. Although the world gold price has fallen, Myanmar’s gold price has already exceeded 3.7 million Kyats, prompting the closure of gold and dollar transactions. Most of the gold shops suspend trading, and some shops are selling 24K gold at a discount of over 200,000 kyats”.
The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) issued a directive on 14 August, allowing Authorized Dealer (AD) banks to use Thai baht for international payments and settlements.
However, because the baht exchange rate is only around 970 baht for 100,000 Myanmar kyats, most money changers have halted dealing, causing customers to face difficulties.
On July 5, the military council formed a Foreign Exchange Supervision Committee headed by generals, but the increase in the value of foreign currency has not been controlled until now.
Financial experts feel that if the military council does not address the current issue of high foreign currency values, Myanmar’s economy may reach its worst situation again.
News-Than Lwin Times
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