Financial Reforms in Myanmar and Japan's Engagement
Date:
7 November 2016Category:
Myanmar, Finance and Macroeconomy, Regulation and GovernanceType:
Discussion PapersTags:
Macroeconomy, Regulation and GovernancePrint Article:
Since 2011, under the Thein Sein government, Myanmar has started to build financial institutions almost from scratch. Japan has played a leading role in this transition, writing off debt, opening the Yangon Stock Exchange, vying for the entry of Japanese banks, and laying out finance-related laws. As in other Southeast Asian countries, Myanmar's oligopolistic economic structure and colonial past present considerable challenges. There is a rich literature on the relationship between well-functioning financial institutions and economic growth, but the causality of this relationship remains inconclusive. This paper examines the preconditions for financial institutions to be a vehicle for Myanmar's development.
