After decades of military ruling accompanied by frequent currency
upheaval, the people of Myanmar have learned to value dollars, but they
have taken it to an absurd level – any U.S. dollar bills not in pristine
condition are likely to be rejected by local vendors in Myanmar.
In addition to the slightest tear, stain, corner crease or any
imperfections, a dollar bill is also scrutinized for its mintage year
and sometimes even the serial number to ensure that both are acceptable,
the Asia Times reports. Bills that do not meet the strict, at times baffling, requirements would be refused.
"The serial number of the bill was CB, and the belief was -- even
though this sounds so absurd -- that CB stood for counterfeit bill,"
Sean Turnell, an economics professor at Macquarie University in Sidney
and an expert on the Myanmar economy, said. Turnell encountered the
situation on a recent trip to the country. "I explained to the young
girl behind the counter in one of the top hotels, and I said well if it
were a counterfeit bill it wouldn't have CB on it. She completely agreed
and at one point said, 'We really have to get over this.'"
A number of countries, such as Panama, Ecuador and El Salvador, have
adopted the U.S. dollar along with their local currencies, usually
countries with histories of economic instability. Citizens of these
countries seek out alternative means to store their wealth, buying gold
and other more stable foreign currencies.
Recent studies by University of Wisconsin-Madison economics professor
Edgar Feige estimated that as much as a third of all U.S. currency is
held abroad.
Myanmar fits the bill. Many abrupt demonetizations of the local kyat
have happened in the past. In 1985, the government introduced a 78-kyat
note, coinciding with the year of the 75th birthday of General Ne Win,
Myanmar’s then military ruler who believed in numerology.
Just two years later, the government abolished the 25, 35 and 75 kyat
notes and replaced them with 45 and 90 kyat denominations. Both new
bills were allegedly chosen as they are divisible by nine, and Win’s
personal astrologer had informed him that the number nine was
auspicious.
The move was not auspicious for the country’s citizens, who saw their
savings wiped out. The economic instability that resulted from the move
led to nationwide protests, culminating in a coup d’etat, the Asia Times reports.
A history of monetary upheaval explains why the people seek dollars
as an alternative store of wealth but not their absurd demand for
perfection. The reason for that, according to Turnell, who has advised
the U.S.
Congress on economic sanctions against the Myanmar junta and is
currently advising opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on economyc
affairs, is rooted in the very meaning of what is money.
"People are valuing foreign currency because they're viewing it in
the same way they view gold and precious metals and precious stones and
that there's some intrinsic value to it," Turnell said. "If you're
valuing something because you think it's intrinsically valuable, rather
than being a currency decided by local tender and by the law, then the
actual physical appearance of the note matters."
In a broader economic sense, this quirky if frustrating practice has
only a small impact, especially for Myanmar, a country that is already
confronting a host of other economic and development challenges.
"In the case of Myanmar, for example, if the scale of the impact of
this practice is considered to be one, the scale of the impact of the
lack of trust in the Myanmar kyat and the Myanmar banking system is 50
or more," Lex Rieffel, a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings
Institution’s Global Economy and Development Program in Washington,
D.C., said.
However small the economic implications, the practice can be a unique
source of anxiety for travelers. Only in the past year has Myanmar’s
tourism economy matured beyond anything other than cash. Prior to that,
with no access to overseas banks, a traveler who accidentally sat on his
or her wallet and creased all the bills within had little recourse.
Robert Ongcoy, who works as an English teacher in Vietnam,
experienced the frustration firsthand when he traveled to Myanmar for
Lunar New Year this year. Before leaveng, Ongcoy got a fresh batch of
U.S. dollars from the local bank, then picked out only the best bunch
for use in Myanmar. But when he arrived in Mandalay, more than a third
of his best notes were rejected.
While the locals were guileless and sincere, according to Ongcoy,
their demand for pristine notes was determined and at time produced some
tension.
"It was like the bait-and-switch thing. It was constant," he said. "I
basically stayed down there for 30 to 35 minutes watching the guy try
to manipulate the bills that he was going to give back to me like an
expert card magician."
Ongcoy said that, in addition to using a money pouch, he stored his
bills in a Ziploc bag to protect them from the humidity or any stray
beads of sweat. Other travelers have been seen toting around wooden
money boxes or nestling bills safely in the pages of a hardcover book.
Fortunately, Myanmar’s financial infrastructure is developing and now
includes a limited number of money transfer and credit card options.
The clean-bill demand may soon end with the maturation of financial
institutions and the influx of foreign capital.
"I would say that within five years it will be all over," Turnell
said. "That's going to knock a hole in all this, because the hotels and
everyone will start to accept payments. It will last a bit the further
away you get from the big hotels in [Yangon], etcetera, but I think it
will go."
Until then, travelers to Myanmar would be best prepared with a good hardcover book and a healthy supply of Ziploc bags, the Asia Times reports.
source: International Business Times
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