The Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry has released a comprehensive COVID-19 stimulus plan that will inject billions of dollars into the Myanmar economy. In an official report, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said the plan will both help the economy weather the pandemic and lay the groundwork for its recovery. She added that it will not interfere with government services nor result in higher taxes.

The relief measures include increasing the “COVID-19 fund” for small and medium enterprises and pandemic-affected industries from MMK 100 billion to MMK 200-500 billion. Other measures include tax credits on wages and government guarantees on loans to companies in affected industries. The plan will also provide assistance to banks, including establishing an asset management body that will help banks mitigate non-performing loans. The plan also includes support for mobile payment services to help businesses to transact without physical interaction.

In many cases, the plan encompasses, builds on and restructures existing emergency economic measures that the government had introduced piecemeal. In addition to the COVID-19 fund, the Central Bank had slashed interest rates, tax exemptions had been introduced for exports, and registration fees for new enterprises had been reduced by 50 percent. It remains unclear how effective these steps will be, or how much damage the economy will sustain before the pandemic runs its course. The IMF’s economic forecast for Myanmar has plunged from 6.4 to 1.8 percent growth this year. On the other hand, despite the pandemic, Myanmar’s is one of the only world economies the IMF expects to grow in 2020.