“This means development done at the right pace without overwhelming the system,” the French national said, adding lasting development can only happen in an environment where there are proper controls and gatekeepers.
“’No haste’ means that there are lots of very interested candidates for the opening of new business … yet, whether it is monetary policies, central bank governance or organising the SEA Games, there is still a lot of ground work to do,” Ms Lagarde said in closing remarks at the Myanmar Women’s Forum.
Ms Lagarde credited the adoption of a managed floating exchange rate and removing exchange restrictions as well as establishing an autonomous central bank and increasing spending on health and education as opening Myanmar’s economy up to the 21st Century.
But, she added, “We really have to start from scratch. There is still a lot that needs to be done.”
The IMF are providing technical assistance for banking supervisions and tax reforms as part of a staff-monitored program initiative.
Banking supervision was a “clear imperative” ahead of foreign banks entering the market with limited financial service offerings in 2014.
“We believe that once financial stability is established and banking supervision reinforced under stable and safe conditions … the next step is for tax reform.”
Tax reform would be like turning a Swiss cheese into a French camembert, Ms Lagarde said, with the objective to eliminate loopholes in the system and eventually condense it to a smaller by more efficient framework.
Ms Lagarde emphasized four key factors for Myanmar to incorporate in its reform agenda.
The first was to bring women into the economy.
“There needs to be policies to support women participating in the economy. [People must] overcome the cultural barrier that is in people’s minds [between men and women],” she said.
“The second thing that is key in Myanmar is education and access to education. In developing countries the best way to advance development is to educate women.”
Ms Lagarde cited access to credit for women as the third point of a suggested policy agenda and mentioned quotas as the fourth.
The drop-out rate for working mothers occurs because the step to continue employment after a family can often be too high, Ms Lagarde said.
“I decided from experience that there should be room for quotas for a period of time … once a significant result is achieved, sequenced into affirmative action and then sequenced into anti-discrimination,” she said.
“Women of Myanmar are brave, courageous and have put Myanmar on the map of the world. They have a great inspirational leader and she will take them further.”
source: The Myanmar Times
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