Yuan-Kyat direct trade allowed in Sino-Myanmar border areas

The use of Yuan or Kyat in the bilateral transaction is officially allowed in the border areas between Myanmar and China in a bid to encourage trade, according to the notification released by the Central Bank of Myanmar on 14 December.
In exercise of the power conferred by sections 17 and 22 of the Foreign Exchange Management Law, the CBM released this notification.
This move is aimed to boost the bilateral cross-border trade, facilitate the trading and bilateral transaction and increase the use of domestic currency in line with the objectives of ASEAN Financial Integration. Myanmar traders are allowed to open the accounts at the designated banks which can make Yuan-Kyat direct payment.
Those designated banks must also strictly adhere to the guidelines of the use of Yuan or Kyat in the direct trade in the cross-border trade. This notification came into effect starting from the notification date, the CBM stated.
There are five cross-border posts between Myanmar and China; Muse, Lwejel, Chinshwehaw, Kamapaiti and Kengtung. Of them, Muse is the major border post, the Ministry of Commerce’s statistics showed.
Myanmar conducted US$4.057 billion worth of cross-border trade through Muse posts in the financial year 2020-2021, with exports valued at $2.9 billion and imports worth $1.15 billion, the trade data indicated. — NN/GNLM