ARTICLES

31 Jul 2026

Rules or Ruse? Myanmar’s Anti-Money Laundering Efforts Coerce Compliance with a Rigged Financial System

Jared Bissinger

Since being labelled a “Jurisdiction of Concern” by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2022, Myanmar’s military government has undertaken efforts to improve its technical compliance with the FATF’s recommendations on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). But the regime uses AML/CFT compliance less to address actual money laundering, and more as a tool to compel individuals and businesses to use the state-controlled financial system.

15 Jun 2026

Myanmar’s Overvalued Exchange Rates Are a Recipe for Economic Deterioration

Jared Bissinger

Myanmar’s people will continue to suffer under the ‘new’ government’s vague economic direction.

Myanmar Myanmar Economy Myanmar Military

14 Apr 2026

The Energy Crisis is Hitting Myanmar Hard

Jared Bissinger

Rising fuel, fertiliser and logistics prices are squeezing the Myanmar economy — a dire state compounded by conflict and political risks.

Energy Myanmar Myanmar Economy Myanmar Politics

Employees count kyat after a deposit at the KBZ Bank main office on 8 October 2015 in Yangon, Myanmar. (Photo by Taylor Weidman / GETTY IMAGES ASIAPAC / Getty Images via AFP)

26 Feb 2026

Myanmar’s Foreign Exchange Shortages Have Eased, But Challenges Remain

Jared Bissinger

The military regime’s efforts to conserve and tap new sources of foreign exchange have improved its financial situation. This benefits the regime and some businesses, though comes at a cost: increased military action, continued trade restrictions, and a depressed economy.

Myanmar Myanmar Economy

23 Sep 2025

For Myanmar’s Garment Sector, Tariffs are a Setback, not a Knockout Blow

Jared Bissinger

Shielded by ultra-low wages and duty-free access to the EU market, Myanmar’s garment industry may be able to weather President Trump’s steep “reciprocal” tariffs.

Economy Myanmar Myanmar Economy

5 May 2025

Myanmar’s Earthquake Threatens a Lasting Economic Scar

Jared Bissinger

The recent earthquake in central Myanmar threatens to deepen the country’s economic malaise.

Myanmar Myanmar Economy Myanmar Military Myanmar Politics

9 Apr 2025

Myanmar’s Military Regime is Violating its International Economic Obligations

Jared Bissinger

Myanmar’s violations of its international economic obligations contribute to inflation and increasingly impoverish the country’s population. They also threaten to diminish the impact of financial assistance for Myanmar’s recent earthquake.

Myanmar Myanmar Economy Myanmar Military Myanmar Politics

11 Mar 2025

Challenges and Priorities for Myanmar’s Conflicted Economy

Jared Bissinger

Myanmar’s economy in 2024 continued to struggle with slow growth, high inflation, increasing poverty, and declining real wages. Its near-term economic prospects are weak, weighed down by conflict, outmigration, uncertainty, and State Administration Council (SAC) policies that extract from the real economy to resource the regime.

Myanmar Myanmar Economy

4 Mar 2025

Myanmar’s Worsening Human Resource Crisis

Htet Hlaing Win

Four years of civil strife and conflict, compounded by forced conscription, have led to Myanmar’s dire human resources crunch.

Labour Market Myanmar Myanmar Economy

13 Dec 2024

The State Administration Council and the Restyling of Myanmar’s Economy

Jared Bissinger

This article reviews the complex drivers of post-coup business performance and the factors that have contributed to business survival under Myanmar’s State Administrative Council. Not all of the reasons stem from having close links with the military regime.

Myanmar Myanmar Economy Myanmar Military