Money without value

Yangon’s scorching May sun shows no mercy to day labourers like Zin Thu*, who works long shifts as a bicycle delivery driver to make just a few dollars a day to feed his family. At 30 years old, he works two shifts, from 7am until noon, and from 3pm until 7pm to make an average of 20,000 kyat per day, the value of which is officially equivalent to more than US$9. However, according to local exchange rates, the selling price of one dollar in the Yangon market reached 4,130 kyat on Friday, putting Zin Thu’s income realistically at around $5. “Money is continuously losing its value,” Zin Thu said. “I am not able to save my daily earnings because it all goes into food expenses for my family.” Myanmar’s currency has depreciated by 17 percent since December 2023 alone, and is valued at one-third of what it was prior to the February 2021 military coup, which initiated a major national political and economic decline as the junta declared war on those opposed to its attempted takeover. The United Nations Development Program has predicted little to no economic recovery for the rest of 2024, and estimated in an April report that nearly half of the country’s population has been living below the poverty line since late 2023. “People do not hold onto cash any longer. They are more likely to spend money quickly before prices rise further, speeding up the velocity of money,” a Myanmar-based economic expert explained, adding, “This rapid circulation of money pushes prices higher.” He said that people lack confidence in the stability of the kyat, and the regime’s mismanagement around stabilising foreign exchange rates and the price of gold—up by 37 percent since last year to $1,274 for 16.6g—has fuelled an increase in the cost of basic commodities, many of which have more than doubled since the coup. “The price of gold is on the rise due to the increasing value of the dollar and higher demand. Additionally, price hikes in the global market are also adding to this increase,” the economic expert said. Zin Thu’s family once ran a shoemaking business, which was forced to close during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. When the coup took place one year later, the economic fallout stopped them from reopening the small venture. “My elder brother, my sister, and I have to stick together to make ends meet every month,” he told Myanmar Now. “We split the bills among us. I cover the daily food costs while my brother and sister handle the rent, utilities, and other staple necessities such as rice and cooking oil.” The family is being forced by financial difficulties to move out of their ground-floor unit in a two-storey wooden house in South Okkalapa Township due to an increase in rent: the landlord is reportedly raising it from 200,000 kyat per month to 300,000. “It is beyond our limit,” Zin Thu said, adding that they can afford a maximum of 250,000 kyat. Daw Mya*, a 41-year-old part-time maid and mother to three teenagers, told Myanmar Now she was recently forced to move her family from central Yangon to South Dagon, on the city’s outskirts, due to increased rent prices. Although her son, 19, has a regular monthly income from working in a building supplies shop, he earns just 120,000 kyat per month—less than $30, according to market rates, and below the minimum wage of 5,800 kyat per day. Daw Mya’s husband works as a day labourer, and, like her, does not receive a regular salary. “Some days, I get 7,000 kyat ($1.70) and other days, 10,000 kyat (nearly $2.50). I use this money to buy food,” she said, explaining how she spends it on rice (4,000 kyat), meat or fish (2,500 kyat), vegetables (1,000 kyat) and bus fare (1,000 kyat). She noted that the quantities available for these prices are very small, and limit the size of her family’s meals. While those of means are purchasing gold and dollars to secure their finances during economically unstable times, others in poverty struggle to cope with even the smallest unexpected purchases. “I don’t have any special wishes but I want to buy a new backpack for my youngest daughter when school starts,” Daw Mya said. *The names of sources have been changed to protect their identities.

Money without value

The rapid deterioration of the Myanmar kyat and the corresponding rise in commodity prices leaves Yangon residents struggling to eat and pay rent

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