Order No 61/2022
7th Waxing of Tawthalin 1384 ME
1 September 2022
The State Administration Council has appointed and assigned U Myo Myint Aung to the duties
of Minister for Economy of the Yangon Region government under Section 419 of the Constitution.
By Order,
Aung Lin Dwe
Lieutenant-General
Secretary
Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar
Starting from 1 September 2022, the items related to agricultural machinery included in the HS code lines declared by the Ministry of Commerce are exempted from obtaining an import licence, according to the notification released by the Trade Department under the MoC on 31 August.
In a bid to support the country’s agricultural development and facilitate the imports of agricultural machinery, 70 HS lines concerning the agricultural machinery and equipment were eased from licence requirements from 1 September. Those items can be imported in line with the regulations of the respective departments.
At present, Kyat is depreciating against foreign currencies in the local forex market. The foreign exchange rate stood at K110 for a Thai Baht, K560 for a Chinese Yuan and K4,000 for a dollar. Consequently, imports nearly came to a halt due to the Kyat devaluation, importers stressed. Among the import items, the price of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers is soaring. Additionally, the price of fuel oil used in agricultural machinery is rocketing as well.
Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar
Fuel prices fell by over K200 per litre after the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) declared to provide more than 200 million US dollars for the fuel oil sector, according to the market report. On 31 August, fuel prices stood at K2,605 per lire of Octane 92, K2,670 for Octane 95, K3,245 for diesel and K3,330 for premium diesel. On 1 September, the fuel prices slipped to K2,375 per litre of Octane 92, K2,440 for Octane 95, K3,140 for diesel and K3,225 for premium diesel. The figures showed a decrease of K230 per litre of Octane 92 and Octane 95 and K105 per litre of diesel and premium diesel respectively.
The CBM declared on 31 August that it will provide more than US$200 million through the foreign exchange market according to the decision made by Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee in order to ease the commodity inflation triggered by fuel price hike. The fuel prices descend accordingly. After the exchange rate against the US dollar hit over K4,000, fuel prices skyrocketed in recent days. In early August, fuel prices stayed upward on the dollar price. As a result of this, some fuel stations in regions and states allegedly faced a shortage of supply. Nonetheless, some petrol stations were allegedly suspending fuel sales and setting limited sales on the possible shortage of fuel oil, sparking consumers’ concerns and raising fuel prices.
They seemed to take advantage of the consumers’ concerns for their benefits, according to the statement released by the Central Committee on Ensuring Smooth Flow of Trade and Goods on 16 August. The committee has assured adequate fuel supply until this month. It is also working together with Myanmar Petroleum Trade Association to ensure a steady fuel supply in order for the energy consumers to mitigate concerns, the statement mentioned. Therefore, the consumers can complain about the halt in fuel sales and limited sales through the contact numbers of the respective regions and states if they find those stations that violate the rules, the committee stated. The committee is governing the fuel oil storage and distribution sector effectively not to have a shortage of oil in the domestic market and ensuring price stability for energy consumers.
The Petroleum Products Inspection and Supervision Department, under the guidance of the committee, is issuing the daily reference rate for oil to offer a reasonable price to energy consumers. The reference rate in Yangon Region is set on the MOPS’ price assessment, shipping costs, premium insurances, taxes, other general costs and profit per cent of Singapore. The rates for regions and states other than Yangon are evaluated after adding the transport costs and retail reference rates daily cover on the state-run newspapers and are posted on the media and official website and Facebook page of the department on a daily basis starting from 4 May.
As per the statement, 90 per cent of fuel oil in Myanmar is imported, while the remaining 10 per cent is produced locally. The domestic fuel price is highly correlated with international prices. The State is steering the market to mitigate the loss between the importers, sellers and energy consumers. Consequently, the government is trying to distribute the oil at a reasonable price compared to those of regional countries. Some countries levied higher tax rates and hiked oil prices than Myanmar. However, Malaysia’s oil sector receives government subsidies and the prices are about 60 per cent cheaper than that of Myanmar. Every country lays down different patterns of policy to fix the oil prices. Myanmar also poses only a lower tax rate on fuel oil and strives for energy consumers to buy the oil at a cheaper rate.
Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar
On August 31st, the domestic gold price in the external market was around 37 lakh per tical, which had risen to a record, dropped to around 30 lakh on September 1, leading a lot of resale, according to the gold dealers. On September 1, the Yangon Gold Association set the reference price at 2001,000 kyats per tical, while the domestic gold price in the foreign market was around 3200,000 kyats. It is believed that the gold market first opened.
After that, on September 1st at 2:30 p.m., the domestic gold price in the external market reached 30 lakh and fell again. On August 31, the Yangon Gold Association set a reference price of 20,210,000 kyats per kyat, but the domestic gold price in the external market rose to a record high of around 37 lakh. Last August 31, the price of bark sawn started at around 3030,000 per kyat and reached a record high of 3120,000 at noon on August 30. On August 30th, around 3:00 p.m., bark gold rose to around 3,175,000 kyat per kyat in the foreign market.
As for the record price, the gold price reached 26,000,000 per kyat on August 12th, and reached a record high of 27,000,000 in the morning on August 13, and over 28,000,000 in the afternoon. From 2016 to 2021, there have been several record gold prices in the country. On August 13, 2019, Kyat 1,237,000, on September 5, 2019, Kyat 1,315,000. 1335500 kyat on August 7, 2020, February 6, 2021
1,420,000 Kyats per day.
The price of gold exceeded 800,000 kyats in 2016, 900,000 kyats in 2017, 100,000 kyats in 2018, 1100,000 kyats and 1200,000 kyats in 2019, and in September 2019, it rose to over 1,310,000 kyats. On February 6, 2021, it reached a record high of 1,420,000 kyats. The price of gold is set based on the foreign exchange rate, but it is known that most of the gold shops only sell at the market price. In actual purchase, payment is made only at the external market price.
Source: Daily Eleven