The military junta has announced it will take legal action against those who fail to repay Covid-19 relief loans. According to economic sources, some Mon entrepreneurs, especially in agriculture and livestock sectors, are still unable to repay the loans they received.
During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the government disbursed over 200 billion kyats in relief loans nationwide to support affected businesses. However, only around 75 billion kyats have been recovered so far. On July 14, the junta stated that it would begin enforcing repayments against remaining borrowers.
A Mon rubber entrepreneur expressed concern, stating that while some are genuinely struggling, others are deliberately avoiding repayment despite being financially capable.
“There are still some entrepreneurs who haven’t repaid. From what I know, they aren’t in financial trouble—they just don’t want to pay. The interest rate is really low, only 1%, so they think they can just ignore it,” he said.
The Covid relief loans were provided to various sectors, including agriculture, rubber, salt production, fisheries, shrimp farming, film, music, traditional theater, journalism, and media.
A female salt entrepreneur from Thanbyuzayat said most salt producers have already repaid their loans and that many were unable to borrow due to strict documentation requirements.
“Our loan was a Covid loan too. I haven’t heard of any salt producers who didn’t repay. Salt producers here work in groups—like teams of five—and they repay together. But some couldn’t get loans at all because they didn’t have proper licenses or complete documents. The paperwork was intense, with requirements for business licenses, income and expense records, and more,” she said.
In April 2020, the “Committee for Remedying Economic Impacts from Covid-19” launched the relief loans with a one-year term at just 1% interest to support businesses affected by the pandemic.
After the initial one-year term, the repayment period was extended for up to three years. In July 2024, the junta began pressuring borrowers to start repaying.
At a coordination meeting of the Covid Economic Relief Committee, officials stated that legal action would only be taken against businesses that were not genuinely impacted by the pandemic—excluding those severely affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes.
