Floods take a toll on domestic economy Skip to main content

Floods take a toll on domestic economy

By Aye Thidar Kyaw   |   Thursday, 06 August 2015
Commodity prices have spiked with the flooding of hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, hitting domestic consumers in the pocketbook.
People commute in Kalay. The ongoing floods are expected to have a significant impact on the economy. Photo: Aung Myin Ye Zaw / The Myanmar TimesPeople commute in Kalay. The ongoing floods are expected to have a significant impact on the economy. Photo: Aung Myin Ye Zaw / The Myanmar Times
Experts are calling for a coordinated government and private sector response to ensure the spike does not get out of control.
U Ko Ko Gyi, a member of the Pyithu Hluttaw from Mandalay Region and chair of the Mandalay Commodity Centre, said beans and pulses are as much as 80 percent higher than they were a month ago, before the floods.
Edible oil is also up about 40pc, partly on the flood damaging crops and hindering transport, but also because of the depreciating kyat.
Representatives from different parts of Mandalay are set to discuss the issue on August 10.
“The commodity shortage could continue for the long run. The government needs to think about the situation on a national level – how much do we need to export, and how much do we export,” he said.
Other commodities have also jumped significantly in price, though spikes in goods like the rice prices may be due more to public perceptions of a future problem, rather than any current shortage, he said. Sentiment pushing up prices has been seen in other goods such as animal food.
The Myanmar Rice Federation has announced a temporary 45-day halt of rice exports until September 15.
Ministry of Commerce director U Win Myint said rice and other agricultural exports will drop because of the floods, though added there will be sufficient product for most domestic consumption.
“The main reason prices are currently skyrocketing is inconvenient logistics, as well as speculation,” he said. “The government is working to manage the problem.”
U Win Myint added he expects damaged farmland to total about 1 million of the total 15 million acres in the entire country. Each government ministry has been instructed from August 3 to check the floods’ impact on the economy.
Hikes in commodity prices inevitably occur when supply lowers, according to economist U Hla Maung. Rising costs of goods can also lead to currency depreciation, he said.
Recent estimates have put inflation at about 8.1 to 8.5pc as government expenditures have increased on rising salaries and election preparations, while imports become more expensive due to the weakening currency.
The kyat has fallen over 20pc this year, though the market has now stabilised at around K1234 per dollar as of yesterday.
U Hla Maung said the economics effects of the flooding will become more apparent in the coming months. He pointed to the after-effects of Cyclone Nargis in 2008, where many affected farmers lost their properties and moved to Yangon’s outskirt areas.
“Natural disasters are a current problem that we didn’t expect. Inflation will reach into the double digits if the government does not manage it immediately,” he said.
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/15858-floods-take-a-toll-on-domestic-economy.html
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl
Post a Comment
Read more

ARSA claims ambush on Myanmar security forces

Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August, when a series of ARSA raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The army campaign sent some 650,000 Rohingya fleeing for Bangladesh, where refugees have given harrowing accounts of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces and vigilantes. Myanmar's military, which tightly controls information about Rakhine, denies any abuses and insists the crackdown was a proportionate response to crush the "terrorist" threat. ARSA have launched few attacks in recent months.  But the army reported that "about ten" Rohingya terrorists ambushed a car with hand-made mines and gunfire on Friday morning
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do
1 comment
Read more