Myanmar military leadership is considering plans to go for a digital currency to shore up the local economy. Myanmar’s armed forces have been running the government ever since it forcibly detained most politically elected leaders for years.
Bloomberg reported that Major Gen. Min Tun has disclosed plans to roll out Myanmar’s own digital currency. He believed that it would contribute to better financial activity in the country.
But the military leadership remained undecided over going on its own or taking the support of local companies. Tun, who is the head of the junta’s news information center, is also the spokesman for the army in Myanmar.
The ruling military leadership believes that introducing digital currency will support payments within Myanmar and also prop up the sagging economy.
Myanmar Economic Growth Could Be A Mere 1% In 2022: World Bank
The World Bank has predicted that the combined effect of COVID-19 and the overthrowing of the elected civilian government will lead to a mere 1% growth in the economy through Sept. 2022.
It calculated that the economic growth was close to 30% lesser than it would have been without the combined effect of the coup in February 2021 and the pandemic.
It remains unclear if the introduction of a digital economy would have a positive effect on the country’s economy, or inspire citizens to go in for purchases. The report has also not made clear if Myanmar’s federal bank was involved in the process.
In the past, the central bank of the country had warned that anyone found trading in digital assets in Myanmar would be fined and even face imprisonment. But this announcement was made before the dictatorship overthrew the elected civilian government.
The head of the bank, Director-General Win Myint said that they were still studying cryptocurrencies and were engaged in discussions, to consider the advantages and disadvantages.
The government in exile, led by followers of Aung San Suu Kyi, the popular civilian leader, had announced that it will go for Tether (USDT) as the official exchange. The supporters continue to mobilize resources to try to overthrow the dictatorship.
