Later, in a quaint bookshop in Bagan, I found a cheaper copy of 'Burmese Days,' priced at only 3,000
kyat (P115).
In addition, the strength of the
kyat helped Oraphan's business succeed.
Change your money from USD or EUR into
Kyat before you get to Bagan.
US$-denominated series are derived from GDP in local currency units (
kyats) and the implicit market exchange rate, extrapolated from IMF WEO data.
In the beginning, I remember it was 50
kyat for one person, but later on it increased to a few hundred
kyat.
The junta was notorious for weird and disastrous economic policies: In the 1980s under former dictator Ne Win, for instance, new money was printed with odd denominations such as 45
kyat and 90
kyat notes, reflecting the general's numerological preferences.
The Myanmar subsidiary is expected to have registered capital of 500,000
kyat, in line with the regulation of the Myanmar Investment Committee.
Thanks to a 60,000
kyat (about $70) loan, at one percent a fortnight interest, the 35-year-old has nearly doubled the number of ducks she farms to more than 80.
Myanmar introduced a floating FX system; till now, the
kyat was fixed against the dollar at a rate of around six
kyats to one dollar compared to 800 on the black market.
A new reform was expected Monday when Myanmar's currency will be largely unshackled from government controls that kept the
kyat at an artificially high rate for decades.
"My father sells computers," Maung Maung said, though his father in fact peddled a trishaw and his mother sold noodle soup for a handful of
kyat a day.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, requires foreign aid money to be converted first into foreign exchange certificates at a fixed price and then into the country's national currency, the
kyat.