By Yoon Sat - Aug 07, 2024
It is reported that Chinese businessmen in Muse, northern Shan State, have been paying wages to workers in Myanmar Kyats instead of the Chinese Yuan which was used before, so the workers are losing their wages.
“They paid 1,500 kyats before. And they should calculate with the current exchange rates. But they give 8 or 9 lakhs but it have to be more than 10 lakhs according to the current exchange rates. It doesn’t matter in the past but the Yuan value increase now. Traders and businessmen are using Chinese Yuan instead of Thai Baht and USD due to the USD crisis in Myanmar. So, the Yuan value is raising. They paid with Kyats as it is declining continually. They should give with the current exchange rates even if they would like to give in Kyats,” said a Muse resident.
The value of the Myanmar kyat has been declining and the price of foreign currencies including the Chinese Yuan has been rising
100 Chinese Yuan worthed 69,500 Myanmar Kyats on August 1, 2024, and it was stable from August 2nd to August 5th, it remained at that price range. 72,500) or up to 76,000 kyats. On August 6, 100 Chinese Yuan equaled to 71,900 Kyat to 75,200 Myanmar Kyats. On August 7, 100 Yuan worthed 72,500 Kyat to 76,000 Myanmar Kyats.
According to the Chinese currency exchange rate in July, 100 Yuan worthed 65,000 Myanmar kyats so the gap was raising from 500 to 1,000 kyats every day as 100 Yuan worth 72,000 to 76,000 kyats now. It is seen that the Chinese Yuan has been rising over time and Chinese employers have been paying their wages in Myanmar kyats, making workers get paid lesser.
Chinese Yuan is being used by businessmen due to the raising of the USD price and the scarcity of it. the Military Council's Central Bank of Myanmar have been selling foreign currencies to businessmen including USD, Thai Baht and Chinese Yuan and there are pre-announcements in these days to sell again. A factory worker in Ruili said that because Chinese Yuan has become widely used by the employers to give the salaries of the Myanmar workers due to its raising value.
Currently, the value of Chinese Yuan in Muse is rising continually. On the other hand, the prices of basic food and consumer goods have doubled from before due to the difficulty of transportation in the region and the intensity of the fighting and a bag of Manaw Thukha rice is costing around 250,000 lakhs.
