CNA – Myanmar will start accepting the Thai baht currency for settling border trade transactions and is also looking at a similar plan to use the Indian rupee for such trade, the ministries of information and investment said yesterday.
Myanmar’s military-controlled government said it would also accept China’s renminbi as an official settlement currency.
“By reducing dependence on the United States (US) dollar, we will mitigate the risk of sudden exchange rate swings due to external geopolitical factors,” the ministries said in a statement, adding the move would help reduce inflation caused by appreciation of the dollar.
The arrangements would also help support economic recovery, the statement said, adding that – even with rising energy prices – Myanmar should record “modest” GDP growth in the fiscal year ending October 2022.
The statement accused opponents of trying to trigger distrust in the banking and financial system and said a weaker kyat last year was “stoked by economic sabotage”.
Registered merchants along the Thai border with Myanmar could from this month conduct trade based on the kyat-baht exchange rate announced daily by Myanmar’s central bank, said the statement.
Thai and Indian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
