Central Bank Drops Foreign Currency Conversion Rate to 15%

On 7 January 2026, the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued Notification 2/2026, lowering the percentage of foreign currency from export earnings that must be converted into MMK from 25% to 15%. The new rate applies retroactively from 1 January 2026.

For background, the CBM introduced this conversion requirement in Notification 12/2022 dated 3 April 2022; at that time the requirement was that all foreign currency inflows into Myanmar must be converted to MMK within one business day. Later, on 5 August 2022, this requirement was adjusted when the CBM issued Notification 36/2022, which stated that exporters were allowed to retain 35% of their export earnings as foreign currency and 65% had to be converted to MMK.

Since then, CBM has been gradually loosening this conversion requirement. On 13 July 2023, the required conversion percentage dropped to 50% (via Notification 15/2023), then to 35% on 6 December 2023 (Notification 26/2023), and then to 25% on August 2024 (Notification 37/2024).

The percentage has remained at 25% until this recent notification, whereby exporters are now allowed to retain 85% of their export earnings as foreign currency.

In other trade-related news, the Ministry of Commerce announced on 9 January 2026 that its automatic licensing system for export licenses is functioning well and processing applications immediately, while non-automatic license applications are being processed and approved within 24 hours of submission of all necessary documents. It emphasized that exporters should be aware of the new regulations on export earnings and repatriate the export earnings accordingly.

Note that companies that do not comply with this CBM regulation may have their license revoked or be subject to legal action, including being blacklisted or having their principals imprisoned, as per the applicable sanctions under the Myanmar Companies Law and the Foreign Exchange Management Law.