The Central Bank of Myanmar ("CBM") has recently issued several directives and notifications to financial institutions.
Change of Financial Year
On 7 September 2021, CBM issued Letter No. MaBaBa/NaPaTa/FIS/134/2021 notifying all financial institutions including mobile financial service providers of the alteration of the financial year for 2022 to 2023 from the usual period of 1 October to 30 September, to 1 April to 31 March. In view of the change of the financial year for 2022 to 2023, CBM has declared a six-month interim financial period starting from 1 October to 31 March.
Revocation of Maximum Rate
In order to control the inflation of foreign currency exchange rate, CBM previously issued Directive No. 11/2021 fixing the CBM Reference Rate as the Mid-Rate, and restricting the market range between +0.8% or -0.8%. However, on 10 September 2021, CBM revoked the maximum rate by a new directive (Directive No. 12/2021).
Exporters to Deposit Income Derived from Exports in Foreign Currency Within Prescribed Time
As a result of the cash shortage and the inflation in currency exchange rate, on 3 September 2021 CBM passed Notification No. 33/2021 reminding exporters of their obligations under Section 38 (b) of the Foreign Exchange Management Law ("FEML"). Among other things, Section 38 of the FEML mandates exporters to deposit their income derived from exports in foreign currency within four months after the receipt of the remittance. CBM further expressed that the conversion of foreign currencies must be carried out at authorised dealers within the prescribed period at the current exchange rate. The notification took effect from 3 September 2021.
