Myanmar’s Parliament has confirmed the appointment of members of the Central bank governing body, including the new chairman.
Kyaw Kyaw Maung, who previously served as chairman of the Central Bank from 1997 to 2007 under the military regime, was reappointed. Current chairman Than Nyein and former director Khin Saw Oo are to be repositioned as vice-chairpersons of the bank.
Myanmar’s Central bank is to remain free from control and independent of the Ministry of Finance. Its main function will be controlling monetary policy. Myanmar Securities Exchange Co. Ltd. former executive director Kyaw Sein said that the new Central Bank should work for rapid development in the country by controlling the interest rates and other macroeconomic policies. He said it should not be submissive to the government’s orders.
“The Union budget in Burma [Myanmar] had been in the red for over 20 years,” he said. “Interest rates should be determined by supply and demand. Under the reign of the previous government, they printed more and more money to finance projects such as dam-building. The Central Bank should be able to resist such demands from the government.
“When it has this courage, the Central Bank will then have become an independent financial institution,” Kyaw Sein said.
