Since mid-January 2022, the Myanmar kyat has depreciated and food prices have risen, according to money changers in Mon State.
A currency trader in Mawlamyine said that the exchange rate from the Thai baht to the Burmese kyat had risen to nearly 70 kyats per baht and prices for imported goods were also rising.
“The baht price will gradually increase to 70 kyats. The prices of our imported Thai oil cans and other consumer goods have gone up, and some products are so expensive that you have to put them on hold,” he said.
In January, a bag of PawSan rice was priced at 35,500 kyats, a bag of Emahtar was priced at 25,000 kyats, and a viss of palm oil was priced at 4,500 kyats. Viss is a Burmese unit of measure for weight, approximately 1.63293 kilograms (3.6 pounds).
At the end of February, the price for a bag of PawSan was 41,000 kyats and an Emahta bag was priced at 27,500 kyats, while palm oil had risen to 5,450 kyats per viss.
People are facing difficulties due to rising commodity prices, which is reportedly leading to the smuggling of goods into Mon State.
