Myanmar's democratic leaders in exile want to issue CBDCs to fund the revolution
The National Unity Government plans to use the country's frozen reserves as backing for the digital currency.
New
A year and a half after Myanmar's military junta revealed plans to launch a digital currency, the country's government, toppled by a coup in 2021, has expressed its own intention to launch one in using frozen national funds.
In an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, Myanmar's National Unity Government-in-exile Planning Minister Tin Tun Naing called for the "US blessing" to "virtually" use the reserves of the country, frozen by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since February 2021.
The funds Naing mentioned have been frozen in Singaporean, Thai and Japanese accounts and could amount to billions of dollars, according to Bloomberg. While Naing doubts that the United States can decide to allocate these assets directly to the national unity government, he points to the possibility of using them as reserves to back the digital currency of the alternative central bank in exile. The money is needed to support "revolutionary efforts" in the country.
The national unity government is largely made up of lawmakers who won democratic elections in November 2020, only to be ousted by the country's longtime military junta in February 2021. Its previous efforts to secure financial support include the issuance of breakthrough bonds. and the auction of mansions belonging to junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.
Related: Reserve Bank of India Set to Test CBDC with Public Sector Banks and Fintechs
In February 2022, a junta official claimed that the military planned to issue a digital currency to support payments in Myanmar and "help improve financial activities" in the country. Before the military took over, Myanmar's Central Bank warned that anyone in Myanmar found guilty of trading...
The National Unity Government plans to use the country's frozen reserves as backing for the digital currency.
New
A year and a half after Myanmar's military junta revealed plans to launch a digital currency, the country's government, toppled by a coup in 2021, has expressed its own intention to launch one in using frozen national funds.
In an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, Myanmar's National Unity Government-in-exile Planning Minister Tin Tun Naing called for the "US blessing" to "virtually" use the reserves of the country, frozen by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since February 2021.
The funds Naing mentioned have been frozen in Singaporean, Thai and Japanese accounts and could amount to billions of dollars, according to Bloomberg. While Naing doubts that the United States can decide to allocate these assets directly to the national unity government, he points to the possibility of using them as reserves to back the digital currency of the alternative central bank in exile. The money is needed to support "revolutionary efforts" in the country.
The national unity government is largely made up of lawmakers who won democratic elections in November 2020, only to be ousted by the country's longtime military junta in February 2021. Its previous efforts to secure financial support include the issuance of breakthrough bonds. and the auction of mansions belonging to junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.
Related: Reserve Bank of India Set to Test CBDC with Public Sector Banks and Fintechs
In February 2022, a junta official claimed that the military planned to issue a digital currency to support payments in Myanmar and "help improve financial activities" in the country. Before the military took over, Myanmar's Central Bank warned that anyone in Myanmar found guilty of trading...
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