Myanmar toughened its rules on the purchase of foreign exchange by importers and exporters as the nation seeks to curb the black market.

The Central Bank of Myanmar ordered banks and importers and exporters to buy and sell foreign currencies only through the online trading system, according to the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

If the exchange rate is negotiated outside of the platform, the bank will be fined and the license revoked, while the export or import licenses of the traders will also be revoked, the federation said in an Aug. 4 statement on its website.

Myanmar’s currency has weakened against the dollar in the black market since the start of June, after months of stability, as dollar demand for imports and foreign payments increased, the World Bank said. The central bank has initiated a spate of measures since then to protect the kyat, including the online trading of foreign exchange between banks and companies in June.

Myanmar has capped the kyat at 2,100 per dollar in the official market since August last year, switching to a fixed exchange-rate regime after the currency lost 40% since the end of 2020.

Author: Karl Lester M. Yap and Khine Lin Kyaw