New restrictions on U.S. dollars introduced last week by the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) have come as a crippling blow to businesses already struggling in an economic recession resulting from post-coup political turmoil and the COVID-19 pandemic, The Irrawaddy reported. The new restrictions saw the bank revoking the exemption from mandatory currency conversion given to companies with a minimum 10 percent foreign ownership.
People marched through Monywa, in the heart of Myanmar, and Mawlamyine, on the eastern coast, demanding an end to military rule, the New York Times reported. They refused to disperse in the casino town of Myawaddy, even when the police fired warning shots. In Sagaing Division, in the foothills of the Himalayas, a man from the Naga ethnic group wearing a fur hat garnished with hornbill feathers and boar tusks raised his arm in a defiant salute. And in Yangon, the largest city in the country, columns of red-clad protesters surged toward Sule Pagoda from as far as the eye could see.
