Mawlamyine, 17 September
The junta-controlled fuel prices are still on the rise despite the drop in foreign currency value, fuel suppliers told Than Lwin Times.
Beginning in the first week of September, the dollar exchange rate decreased from 3,900 kyats to more than 3,400 kyats, while the Thai baht’s value decreased from 120 kyats to nearly 99 kyats.
Despite the decline in foreign exchange rates, the cost of 95 gasoline, which was previously just around 2,400 kyats per liter, increased to over 2,600 kyats per liter, while the price of 92 gasoline increased from more than 2,300 kyats to about 2,500 kyats.
The price of premium diesel also increased from around 2,500 kyat to 2,800 kyat per liter, and the price of regular diesel increased from around 2,500 kyat to more than 2,700 kyat per liter.
With global fuel prices rising again, the military council’s restrictions have led fuel prices to climb more, a fuel businessman said.
A taxi driver said, “We are having difficulty continuing to operate the taxi business due to the continuous rise in fuel prices. Before the coup, a liter of fuel cost slightly more than 600 kyats, and now it rises to 2,500 kyats. I hope the price will come down so that everyone can afford it.”
On the other hand, the military council has been selling fuel on a quota system and has threatened to close fuel stations that do not sell at their reference prices.
In early last year, the junta-controlled Central Bank provided 200 million US dollars to the foreign currency market and imported Russian fuel in an attempt to reduce gasoline prices, but in vain.
In Myanmar, the price of gasoline, which was only around 600 kyats per liter prior to the military coup, has more than quadrupled with frequent fuel shortages and unstable prices.
News-Than Lwin Times
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