According to the remittances to the Central Bank of Myanmar via the State-owned banks and private banks between April, 2016 to June, 2018, the remittance money by 1,454,867 Myanmar migrant workers hit US$1428.468 million, said Maung Maung Win, Deputy Minister for Planning and Finance.

The deputy minister replied to the question raised by lower house MP Myint Lwin from Twante Constituency, about the remittance of money by Myanmar migrant workers, at the session of lower house parliament in Nay Pyi Taw on December 17.

The remittances by Myanmar expats accounted for 0.81 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2016-2017 fiscal year and 1.06 per cent in 2017-2018 FY, he added.

Since 1990, Myanmar has been sending workers to 19 countries. Now Myanmar citizens are working in Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, UAE, Qatar, Macao, and Jordan.

Myanmar sent 831976 workers—519,461 workers between 1990 and 2016, 161897 in 2017 and 150,618 between January and August. From 1990 to August, 2018, there were 211,325 workers in Malaysia, 553,281 in Thailand and 39555 in the Republic of Korea, he said.

Their remittances are relatively low compared with their incomes. Workers have to transfer their money using Hundi money transfer service as there was no official banking service for remittance due to the economic sanctions against Myanmar.

According to the statement issued on March 15, 2012, the Ministry of Planning and Finance allowed Myanmar expats to enjoy the income tax exemption as from April 1, 2012.

According to Section 31, subsection (a), (iv) of the Union Taxation Law, Myanmar expats can enjoy income tax exemption for the salaries in foreign currency.

The transfer of money by Myanmar expats through the official routes has seen improvements. The remittances by Myanmar migrant workers contribute a lot to the GDP.