Yangon trades in kyat in bhat and renminbi along Thai and China borders
The Myanmar Government intends to initiate currency convertibility for the Indian rupee for trade along the border it shares with India, following on with this month’s agreement to deal in Thai baht with neighbours and the kyat-baht initiative for border trade with China.
“The Myanmar Government intends to initiate similar currency convertibility for the Indian rupee for trade along the border it shares with India,” the Ministry of Information in Yangon said on 15 March 2022.
The Myanmar Government has agreed to accept the Thai baht as an official currency for settling border trade starting this month. Thailand is the second country after China to permit its national currency to be exchangeable with the Myanmar kyat for border trade activities.
Myanmar’s Minister of Information (MOI) Maung Maung Ohn and Minister of Investments and Foreign Economic Relations (MIFER) Aung Naing Oo said in a joint statement that the kyat-baht initiative is a significant development as Thailand is Myanmar’s second largest trading partner after China.
Myanmar and China commenced kyat-renminbi settlement for border trades in January 2022.
The increasing use of non-US dollar direct currency settlement for border trade underscores the strong bilateral relations that Myanmar enjoys with its neighbours, said the statement.
The kyat-baht settlement arrangement was endorsed by an official notification and guidelines issued by the Central Bank earlier this month. All settlements will be conducted online as opposed to cash transactions previously. fiinews.com
