Gasoline and diesel importers have dismissed as a short-term fix the junta-controlled Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM)’s plan to sell them US$100 million in greenbacks at better than market rates so they can purchase fuel needed to ease severe shortages in several cities.
The CBM announced on Wednesday that it would make $100 million available to the struggling fuel importers to help them purchase fuel and oil from foreign suppliers. The announcement didn’t provide further details on the release of the funds.
A fuel importer told The Irrawaddy that regime authorities met with importers in Yangon on Wednesday. The meeting began in the evening and lasted until 2 a.m. Thursday, he said.
According to the importer, the CBM is selling the US currency to the importers at a rate of around 3,400 kyats per USD, which is the price quoted on the FX Market Online Trading platform.
“The central bank itself is not able to sell dollars at the reference exchange rate it set [2,100 kyats per USD]. However, it is a lot lower than the current market price [which is currently at around 7,000 kyats],” he said.
An importer said $100 million would secure about a month’s worth of fuel, adding that after that they will be strapped for dollars again..
“Though we can buy dollars from exporters of rice, maize, pulses and beans, and sesame, we are in a difficult period, with low yields due to flooding and other factors,” explained the importer.
The value of the kyat has sharply declined against the dollar since the military took control in 2021, severely affecting importers’ capacity to pay for fuel shipments.
Since Monday, residents in several cities including the commercial capital Yangon, the administrative capital Naypyitaw, as well as Mandalay and Pyin Oo Lwin, have had to wait in long queues overnight at gas stations, facing uncertainties over whether they will be served and how much they will be able to buy.
The shortages have also resulted in temporary closures at many businesses and schools that rely on generators for power due to frequent electricity blackouts.
Many petrol stations in Yangon have simply closed. A taxi driver in the city’s South Okkalapa Township said he had to wait overnight for gasoline, but the station limited how much he could buy.
Following the CBM announcement, reports emerged that the shortage had eased, but Yangon residents said vehicles were still queueing outside petrol stations on Friday morning, and some stations remain closed.
A container truck driver in Yangon said he had to queue for four nights, sleeping on the roadside.
“I’m sick now after waiting that long,” he said.
On Friday, fuel prices surged to over 3,000 kyats per liter from around 2,800 on Thursday, according to locals who bought fuel in Yangon on Friday morning.
