Myanmar’s central bank has started a slow depreciation of its kyat currency in an effort to stabilize fluctuations by bringing the official exchange rate closer in line with the market rate, reported Reuters on 16 July quoting a senior central bank official.
The move, effective since Monday, follows suggestions by experts including those from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Myanmar introduced a managed float of the kyat in 2012 to try to end the disparity between official and unofficial exchange rates.
The move was the first significant economic reform by the government that took office a year earlier, but the differences between unofficial and official exchange rates began to widen last month, with a scarcity of dollars in the market.
The official exchange rate has slid from 1,200 kyat to the dollar on Monday to 1,216 on Thursday. At trading kiosks around Yangon the dollar was offered at 1,230 kyat.