YANGON: The Myanmar government intends to initiate the currency convertibility for the Indian rupee for trade along the border it shares with India, following the Southeast Asian country's agreement this month to deal in Thai baht with neighbours and the kyat-baht initiative for border trade with China.
"The Myanmar government intends to initiate similar currency convertibility for the Indian rupee for trade along the border it shares with India," said the Ministry of Information, Myanmar, in a statement.
The Myanmar government has agreed to accept the Thai baht as an official currency for settling border trade starting this month. Thailand is the second country after China to permit its national currency to be exchangeable with the Myanmar kyat for border trade activities.
Myanmar's Minister of Information Maung Maung Ohn and Minister of Investments and Foreign Economic Relations (MIFER) Aung Naing Oo said in a joint statement that the kyat-baht initiative is a significant development as Thailand is Myanmar's second-largest trading partner after China.
Myanmar and China commenced kyat-renminbi settlement for border trades in January 2022. The increasing use of non-US dollar direct currency settlement for border trade underscores the strong bilateral relations that Myanmar enjoys with its neighbours, said the statement.
