Myanmar Currency

In childhood, the thing we wanted most from our parents is pocket money.  Even though they could buy things that we liked, we wanted to manage our pocket money ourselves.  We went and bought snacks and toys since we hadn’t identified Kyats and Pyas.  This is the very first experience for us about Myanmar currency.  

We are not Economists, hence we don’t know well about the economic, monetary market, inflation etc.  But we can feel unstableness of our currency since we have grown up.  Between our childhood and teenage hood, the prices of the fundamental goods rose several hundred times and no descending at all. At the same time, the gap between income and outcome gets narrower and narrower.

The value of money also becomes lower than other countries, even neighboring countries.  This is the source of the problem of brain drain, one of the biggest problems that our country cannot undertake yet.  The value of money is totally based on the political condition of the country in which the money is circulated.  In a country in unstable political condition, the rate of inflation rises regularly.

Foreign exchange rate is normally based on the market condition.  But government monetary authority also can control and set a rate.  But the rate should be reasonable one.  In Myanmar, authority officially set that 6 Kyats is equal to a US Dollar.  But the actual rate in the market is that 1 US Dollar is equal to about 900 Kyats.  For example, if a foreigner buys a gallon of diesel, he needs to pay about 560 US dollar for it. Wow, if so, Myanmar will be the most expensive country in the world for a gallon of diesel.

Myanmar government is now trying to set a suitable amount of exchange rate between Myanmar currency and US Dollar.  This is positive step to be welcomed.  But it is sure only this step cannot heal malfunction of Myanmar Social Economics.