The military government of Burma has finally develued the Kyat while Vietnam continues to move forward with the building of a new high-speed railway.
The military government of Burma (Myanmar) has been gradually adjusting the exchange rate used at border posts, to bring it more in line with market value. This is a ploy that earns the ruling junta more money from taxes on imports and exports. Now it has decided to devalue the kyat for the purposes of calculating these duties for cross border trade.
Burma maintains an official rate of six kyat to one dollar, but the black market rate is between 1,200 and 1,300 kyat to one dollar.
The weekly Voice Journal reports that the customs department now uses a rate similar to the black market rate, between 1,200 and 1,235 kyats to the dollar, to calculate duties, applicable to goods traded through the 13 border posts only. Formerly it used a rate of 850 to one dollar.
Vietnam will build a high-speed railway with aid from Japan at an estimated cost of $33 billion. This will cut travel time by two-thirds between Hanoi in the North and Ho Chi MInh City in the south. (Gov. statement can be read on www.vietnam.gov.vn). The track, built over a 6-year period with a wider gauge of 1,455 mm. will reduce the journey between the two main cities to less than 10 hours from the current more than 30 hours.
