Well, this is the best news we’ve heard all week.
Money changers in Myanmar are being urged by the Central Bank of Myanmar to accept crumpled and worn notes.
Patrons, meanwhile, have even been told to complain if their less-than-mint currency is rejected, the Irrawaddy reports.
“We encourage them to send letters of complaint to the Central Bank of Myanmar with good evidence, and we will take action […] but we have not received any complaints so far,” Win Thaw, director-general of the foreign exchange department was quoted as saying.
For years, Myanmar has been an incredibly annoying place to change money, with cashiers refusing to accept foreign notes with any hint of wear and tear.
“Foreign visitors say that it annoys them that this country is practicing this awful habit,” Sabei Aung from Nature Dream Travel and Tour Agency told the Irrawaddy, speaking for us all.
Counters and private banks were told in 2012 to accept all notes, though they were allowed to use different rates for different qualities of note.
That’s not changing with the new warning, unfortunately.
So your worn-down $100 bill is still worth less than your crisp one. Makes perfect sense.
Hilariously, there have been questions raised about whether even the Central Bank would accept worn-down notes.
Soe Thein, executive director of Asia Green Development Bank, told the Irrawaddy that staff there had in the past rejected the “old notes”.
“We want them to accept those notes, too,” he said.
Hear, hear.
