Yangon, February 5:

Myanmar’s military government has devalued the kyat currency for the purposes of calculating duties for cross-border trade, the weekly Voice journal reported today.

Myanmar maintains an official rate of six kyat to one dollar, although the black market rate is about 1,275 to one dollar. The government has over the last two years gradually adjusted the exchange rate used at border posts to bring it more in line with market value, which also earns the ruling junta more money from taxes on imports and exports.

The Voice reported that the customs department now uses a rate of between 1,200 and 1,225 kyats to the dollar to calculate duties. It had been using a rate of 850 to one. The new rate applies only to goods traded through Myanmar’s 13 border posts with Bangladesh, China, India and Thailand.

According to official figures, Myanmar’s exports totalled $3.6 billion, while imports were at nearly $2 billion in the 2005 fiscal year.