YANGON - Myanmar will hold the first auction on Monday under a new
currency regime that aims to unify its multiple exchange rates, a senior banker
said, outlining the country's boldest economic reform yet after years of
isolation.
The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) has published little so far about the
new system. It has announced the new managed float would take effect from April
1, which is a Sunday, when commercial banks are closed.
"April 2 will be the first day of the auction," the banker
told Reuters, declining to be named because he was not authorised to speak to
the media.
The Central Bank of Myanmar is expected to announce a reference rate
for the kyat against the dollar at around 9.30 a.m. on Monday (0300 GMT), the
banker said.
The rate will be set after it receives bids from banks in Myanmar.
Banks will then be allowed to buy and sell the currency in a trading band 0.8
per cent either side of the reference rate.
The new rate is expected to be floated near the recent black market
range of 800 to 820 kyat per dollar, which is already used for most
transactions in the country.
An official rate of around 6.4 kyat to the dollar has been used in the
past by the government and some state firms, although the budget for the fiscal
year starting April 1 was set using a rate of 800.
The kyat's unofficial rate has jumped from more than 1,000 per dollar
in 2009 as foreign money has flowed into the timber, energy and gem sectors.
That has hurt a swathe of Burmese, from farmers and manufacturers to traders
and employees of foreign firms paid in dollars.
Reuters
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