Myanmar’s military regime, called Tatmadaw, is planning to roll out its own digital currency in an attempt to uplift the economy, Bloomberg reported citing a top spokesman of the State Administration Council.
The news comes barely a month after Myanmar’s unofficial government, the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar, declared Tether (USDT) as the country’s official currency amidst the ongoing political and socio-economic crises.
“We are undecided whether we should do it as a joint venture with local companies or by the government alone. A digital currency will help improve financial activities in Myanmar,” Major General Zaw Min Tun, the deputy information minister in the Myanmar’s Junta, told Bloomberg.
Myanmar is currently in a two-year-long state of emergency after the country’s military ‘Junta’ ousted the democratically elected civilian government in a military coup d’état and seized control over the country’s administration and other operations.
The coup, coupled with the state of emergency, Covid-19 pandemic, and widespread protests against the regime, resulted in Myanmar’s economy contracting by 18% as of September 2021, the World Bank revealed in a January 2022 report.
Myanmar also recently proposed a bill that would restrict cryptocurrencies, along with VPN usage, within the country’s borders.
