Symbol of a tightly State- controlled currency exchange market, FEC in Myanmar are due to disappear by March 2013 when further liberalisation of the money market takes place.
YANGON- With restrictions on credit cards progressively lifted and with the first ATM due to accept from next year foreign credit or debit card, the Myanmar government just revealed to Burma’s specialist Mizzma that the system will be more flexible by March 2013 and that Foreign Exchange Certificate will then disappear.
According to Maung Maung Win, the vice chairman of the Central Bank of Myanmar, “FEC are due to be abolished as soon as possible. Earlier, it was difficult to use dollars in Burma, so we issued the FEC as an equivalent to the dollar as a type of currency to be used in Burma,” he highlighted.
Presently, Burma allows both dollars and FECs, which are pegged at different exchange rates. According to experts, abolishing the FEC in order to make the currency exchange rate dominate is a necessary action.
Currently, the government is drafting a new foreign currency management law allowing all foreign currencies to be exchanged freely. In Burma, the FEC was introduced in 1993. The FEC purchase rate on Wednesday was 866 kyat, and for selling, 876 kyat per FEC.
In April, Burma instituted a currency exchange system, replacing an artificial system established more than 20 years ago. The former exchange rate was around 6 kyat per US$ 1.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
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