Let’s hear it for the Central Bank of Myanmarrrrrrrrrr!
“Prominent” local restaurants and other businesses may soon be forced to charge in kyats rather than dollars so as to discourage dollarization of the economy, a senior official at the bank told the Myanmar Times yesterday, without naming specific places on the record.
The details of the enforcement plan will be announced soon, he added.
The kyat has fallen about 25 percent against the greenback this year, prompting a number of companies to list prices in dollars rather than the local currency. In the good old days the rate had hovered around K1,000 to $1, but as of yesterday it was up to K1,283 , the paper reported.
Ice-cream chain Swensen’s and The Pizza Company are among the latest to switch to charging in dollars, outraging whoever likes Swensen’s and The Pizza Company.
What happens is a familiar story. You go to a restaurant, get the bill, and after about 50 calculations plus tax, the final figure in kyat is scribbled at the bottom as if the price were literally made up.
You think, wait, I didn’t spend that much, did I? Helpless, you pay and storm off feeling scammed while also questioning your ability to do math.
Rules against paying in a foreign currency already exist but enforcement has been patchy, according to the Times.
In the region, Cambodia is the only country with a dollarized company. There, most local transactions take place in dollars and Cambodian riels.
Photo / Coconuts Yangon
