Central Bank of Myanmar

The Central Bank of Myanmar (Burmese: မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်ဗဟိုဘဏ်; MLCTS: myan ma naing ngam taw ba ho bhan IPA: [mjəmà nàinŋàndɔ̀ bəhòʊbàn]; abbreviated CBM) is the central bank of Myanmar (formerly Burma).

Central Bank of Myanmar
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်ဗဟိုဘဏ်

Seal Headquarters
Headquarters	Naypyidaw
Established	3 April 1948 (as Union Bank of Burma)
Ownership	100% state ownership[1]
Governor	Kyaw Kyaw Maung[2]
Central bank of	Myanmar (Burma)
Currency	Myanmar kyat MMK (ISO 4217)
Preceded by	Union Bank of Burma People’s Bank of Union Bank of Burma
Website	www.cbm.gov.mm

Organisation

Its headquarter located in Naypyidaw, and it has branches in Yangon and Mandalay. The Governor is Kyaw Kyaw Maung and three Vice Governors are Soe Min, Soe Thein and Bo Bo Nge. The Central Bank of Myanmar became an autonomous and independent regulatory body by the Central Bank of Myanmar Law which was enacted by the Myanmar Parliament in 2013.

History

The Central Bank of Myanmar was founded as the Union Bank of Burma on 3 April 1948 by the Union Bank of Burma Act, 1947[3][4] and took over the functions of the Rangoon branches of the Reserve Bank of India.[5] The Union Bank of Burma was opened at the corner of Merchant Road and Sule Pagoda Road and had a sole right of currency issue.

Role

CBM has liberalised the financial organisations for competition, efficiency and integration into the regional financial system. As of the end of December 2007, there are 15 domestic private banks and 13 representative offices of foreign banks and three representative offices of foreign insurance companies in Myanmar. According to the changes in the economic requirements of the country, the Central Bank rate has been increased from 10 percent to 12 percent since 1 April 2006.

Agricultural liberalisation speeded up after the elimination of the government procurement system of the main agricultural crops such as rice, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, etc., in 2003–04. The state also reduced the subsidised agricultural inputs, especially fertiliser. With an intention to enhance private participation in trade of agricultural products and inputs, the government is now encouraging export of crops which are in surplus in domestic markets or grown on fallow or waste land, giving opportunities to farmer and private producers.

Upon the guidance of the Ministry of Finance & Revenue, the CBM is responsible for financial stability and supervision of the financial sector in Myanmar. The institutional coverage of the financial supervisory authority includes state-owned banks and private banks in Myanmar. Two main approaches (on-site examination and off-site monitoring) are currently used for supervision, regulation and monitoring of financial stability.

On-site examination involves assessing banks’ financial activities and internal management, to identify areas where corrective action is required and to analyse their banking transactions and financial conditions, ensuring that they are in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations and the instructions of the CBM by using CAMEL. Off-site monitoring operations are normally based on the weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports which are submitted by the banks to the CBM.

The Central Bank has also issued guidelines on the statutory reserve requirement, capital adequacy, liquidity, classification of N.P.L. and provision for bad and doubtful debts, single lending limit, etc. The reserve requirement, liquidity and capital adequacy required to be maintained by financial institutions have been prescribed according to the standards of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). However, the implementation of Basel II will still take a few more years.

Members

As of end of May 2018, its current members are as follows:

• Governor
  • Kyaw Kyaw Maung[6]
• Deputy Governors
  • Soe Min[7]
  • Soe Thein
  • Bo Bo Nge

Department	Director generals	Deputy director generals	Directors
Administration & Human Resource Development Department	Aung Aung	Myo Min
Financial Institutions Supervision Department	Than Than Swe	Win Myint	Win Htein Min Khin Swe Win
Accounts Department	Myint Myint Kyi	Khaing Shwe War	Khin Sandar
Governor's Office	Win Thaw
Currency Management Department	Aung Kyaw Than	Ye Aung Nyan Tin Tun Lin Aung	Kyaw Ye Naing Kyaw Min Oo
Foreign Exchange Management Department	May Toe Win	Min Han Soe	Win Htike
Monetary Policy Affairs and Financial Institutions Regulation Department	Tin Moe Moe	Thet Thet Hla Moe Moe Kyi Tin Nyo Tun Htwe Htwe Aye	Win Win Than
Internal Audit Department		May Khaing Win	Hla Htay
Board Secretary's Office		Nwe Ni Tun
Yangon Branch
Mandalay Branch		Aung Kyaw Htoo

List of governors

#	Name	Took office	Left office
1	Kyaw Nyein	1 July 1954	25 March 1968
2	Kyaw Nyunt	18 December 1971	31 July 1975
3	Aye Hlaing	8 August 1975	12 August 1981
4	Aung Sint	5 September 1981	22 March 1985
5	Kyaw Myint	15 July 1985	11 April 1986
6	Maung Maung Hla	11 April 1986	15 October 1987
7	Maung Maung Han	11 January 1988	27 December 1992
8	Kyi Aye	31 December 1992	2 November 1997
9	Kyaw Kyaw Maung	20 November 1997	11 April 2007
10	Than Nyein	12 April 2007	31 July 2013
11	Kyaw Kyaw Maung	1 August 2013	Present

Source:[8]

Appointment of governor

The proposed reappointment of Kyaw Kyaw Maung as governor in August 2018 caused controversy. Numerous commentators, including parliamentarians, noted that he had held the position (in two separate two terms) for a long time. Some argued that it was time for a change if reforms were to be expected in economic policy in Myanmar.[9]

See also

• Myanmar kyat

General:

• List of banks in Burma
• Economy of Burma

Further reading

• "The Union of Myanmar" (PDF). South East Asian Central Banks Research and Training Centre. 2005. pp. 45–49. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2006.

References

1. https://d-nb.info/1138787981/34
2. Aye Thidar Kyaw (29 July 2013). "Old hand on new board". The Myanmar Times. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
3. "The Union Bank of Myanmar Act, 1947 [No. LX of 1947]" (PDF). 13 September 1947.
4. https://www.mlis.gov.mm/mLsView.do;jsessionid=C03D8ABE99381D35CC71C5D9236D1904?lawordSn=9361
5. "Central Bank of Myanmar". www.cbm.gov.mm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
6. "List of Governors of the Central Bank of Myanmar | Central Bank of Myanmar". www.cbm.gov.mm. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
7. "Contact List". www.cbm.gov.mm. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
8. "List of Governors of the Central Bank of Myanmar | Central Bank of Myanmar". www.cbm.gov.mm.
9. 'President nominates Central Bank governor for another term', Frontier Myanmar, 26 July 2018, and "'I want someone else': Dismay as veteran Central Bank chief nominated for second term', Frontier Myanmar, 30 July 2018.