Thaketa Township Constituency No. 2 Yangon Region Hluttaw representative U Hla Win Maung said that rigidly applying the Central Bank of Myanmar’s directives and announcements issued during the COVID-19 period, and estimating revenue at a fixed exchange rate of K2,100 per US dollar, would result in significant losses and effectively override provisions of the law.

He made the remarks during discussions by hluttaw representatives on the proposed budget estimates for Yangon Region for the 2027–2028 fiscal year, submitted by the Yangon Region Government, on the fifth day of the fourth regular session of the third Yangon Region Hluttaw on October 21.

“Now that the State has declared the COVID-19 pandemic over, fixing the exchange rate at K2,100 per US dollar based on the Central Bank’s announcements and directives issued during the COVID-19 period in 2022, and using that rate to calculate projected revenue, will cause considerable losses to the State and Yangon Region. I would like to point out that the Central Bank’s notifications and requests appear to override the provisions of the law,” U Hla Win Maung said.

He continued: “Although Section 306(e) of the law stipulates that foreign-currency tax revenue received by the Yangon City Valuation Department and tax assessment departments must be deposited into a separate bank account opened specifically for foreign currency, no such separate foreign-currency account has been opened or identified for these deposits.

“Under the revenue estimates for property tax, the exchange rate of K2,100 per US dollar has been applied in accordance with the Central Bank’s notifications and requests. Of the projected revenue totalling K106,468.982 million, K9,675 million has been included under the ‘O1O4’ budget account heading as the Myanmar kyat equivalent of property tax assessed in foreign currency,” he said.

U Hla Win Maung further stated that calculating the K9,675 million in property tax revenue at the rate of K2,100 per US dollar, in accordance with the Central Bank’s notifications and requests, would yield approximately US$4607142.86. However, applying the daily foreign-exchange market rate of K3,600 to K3,665 per US dollar would nearly double the revenue in kyat terms.

Eight hluttaw representatives discussed the proposed Yangon Region budget estimates for the 2027–2028 fiscal year during the session held on October 21.