Myanmar’s parliament will approve new central bank law next month to make it become an independent body to run the economy, according to local bankers.
“The central bank needs reform. [We]
will require more foreign experts even when the bank became an
independent body. The new law would be better, for sure. But we may face
new problems if we don’t have enough local experts,” said Than Lwin,
the vice-chairman for Kanbawza Bank.
Local economists say that the country will need more skilled workers and the policy-making is also very important.
“We need to go step by step to free the
bank from its constraints. Amendments are needed. Skilled workers are
needed too. It’s important that the central bank has to have its own
policy as the government has its own financial policy. So we need the
new law, policy and skilled workers, which are expected to come in a
year or so,” said Dr. Zaw Oo, a local economist.
“The central bank will need to play a
key role in handling foreign currency exchange market. So it will need
skillful experts to run the system. The bank should play a critical role
indeed,” Than Lwin added.
Local sources said that currently the
Western economic sanctions on Myanmar are no longer a particular problem
for local dollar usage.
The bank is also working on further
reduction of official interest rates from 10 percent for loans and 8
percent for savings to 6 percent and 4 percent respectively.
source: Eleven Myanmar
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