Families reliant on funds send home by relatives working abroad are struggling as remittances from workers drop while the value of the kyat soars, say sources in Mon State.
Agents working in the money transfer industry, through which most Burmese migrant workers send money home, report that transfers are dwindling. “After the value of the kyat increased I lost half of my business,” said an agent in Three Pagodas Pass, on the Thai-Burma border. “Although some migrant workers still send money, they now send less – just enough for their families’ basic needs. Others are waiting for the currency to reduce in value. My business is not going well because of the decrease in customers.”
According to the agent, he transferred 20 million kyat to Burma in February. During the same month in 2008, he said the number was close to 50 million.
In January, news agencies began reporting a shocking rise in the kyat. It is currently valued at 1,013 kyat to the US Dollar and 27.5 to 1 Thai baht, up from 1,215 kyat in December. The value of the kyat has risen significantly this year and many agents working in the money transfer service have commented that the overall amount transferred has halved, as has the number of migrants sending money.
Inside Mon State, meanwhile, families are struggling as the money sent home by relatives working abroad dwindles. Though this is largely explained by economic woes and unemployment in key migrant-employing countries like Thailand and Malaysia, IMNA sources also say that workers are holding back their earnings in the hopes that the kyat will drop.
“After the Myanmar kyat increased, workers in Thailand do not send as much money,” explained a resident of Ye Town. “Some send money, but just a very few. Others are waiting for the Thai value to increase [in relation to the kyat].”
“Some migrant workers cannot send money to their families,” agreed another agent, in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State. “Some borrowed money to go to Thailand, so when the Burmese kyat increased and they stopped sending money, their families now face problems.” The agent added that his business has dropped 60% since the kyat’s rise.
A resident of Mudon Township, who had to borrow 700,000 kyat to send her husband to Thailand, reported similar problems. “I have to pay [debt of] 700,000 kyat. I have paid 200,000, but my husband has not been able to send money for two months. After the kyat increased, my husband has been keeping the money,” said the woman, who explained that she struggles to work because she must care for her 2-year-old baby. “I have to pay interest because otherwise it increases every month. Now my debt is still almost 600,000.”
“My son is working in Malaysia. Before, he sent money every two months. Now he cannot send to me every two months,” described a mother in Chaung zone Township, on Belukyn Island near Moulmein. “I have called him many times, but he can only send 200,000 kyat. Before he could send 400,000 kyat every two months. We paid money to send him to Malaysia. But now we cannot pay back the money we had to borrow to send him.”
A mother in Mudon Township, who depends on income from her daughter and son-in-law in Thailand, described how the decreasing income is impacting her daily life. Though she once used to live on 7,000 kyat a week, she said, she has had to limit her weekly budget to 3,500 kyat. Buying enough rice for her household costs close to 6,000 kyat per week.
“In the past they sent me nearly 1 million kyat over a year, but now they’re sending only for food,” she said. “Other migrants used to send their families money every month too, but now it’s only every three.”
