Myanmar faces major hurdles in its quest for change
The most formidable pressure comes from a long-oppressed people impatient to see results
Reuters 27 June 2012
[NAYPYITAW, Myanmar] The desks are mostly empty. Two computers idle in a corner. A young woman in a sarong leafs through a newspaper. Welcome to what should be the fast-beating heart of Myanmar’s economy: the headquarters of the central bank.
The first tour of the complex by a foreign journalist reveals an almost lifeless institution. The Monetary Policy Department has just three computers, about the same as the Bank Supervision Department. A training department has fewer than five, including one being used for video games.
“The staff shortage is not just a problem at the central bank but also at many other institutions in our country,” said deputy central bank governor Nay Aye. “We also need help with technology.” Underscoring the point, the building’s power went out twice during the interview.
As Myanmar opens up after almost 50 years of army rule, and foreign investors descend on the resource-rich country of 60 million, its long-isolated institutions are struggling to keep up, raising the risk of a policy misstep that could wreck stability in this nascent democracy.
The pace of change, already frenetic, looks set to accelerate after President Thein Sein announced on June 19 a second phase of reforms. The goal: tripling the size of the economy in five years and modernising a backward state where 30 per cent of the population live under the poverty line and three-quarters get by with no electricity.
A Reuters examination of the policymaking apparatus of the hitherto secretive government reveals how difficult that will be. Inexperienced and thinly staffed ministries are grappling with growing workloads and hastily training themselves in the ways of a world that Myanmar shunned for nearly half a century. The former military junta isn’t dragging its feet on economic reform. In fact, it is pushing ahead so fast that foreign advisers here on the ground say it risks overloading its rickety institutions.
“They really aim to reform just about anything and everything at this stage,” said Craig Steffensen, the Asian Development Bank’s chief on Myanmar and Thailand. He said Myanmar officials want to do things right and are seeking the best advice. But “there is so much on their plate right now and so few people involved in evaluating all of this, that I think they’re getting to the point where they are overwhelmed”.
In less than a year, the government has drafted dozens of new bills, freed hundreds of political prisoners, legalised trade unions, signed peace deals with ethnic rebels, eased censorship, unshackled the political opposition, announced plans for a stock exchange, reformed its currency and held historic by-elections. Its rewards - a suspension of US and European sanctions, and a gold rush of foreign investors - have policymakers racing to overhaul an economy blighted by decades of failed socialist planning and military crony capitalism.
The world isn’t simply watching. Multilateral agencies - the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank - are offering advice, but it is often conflicting, according to interviews with nearly a dozen senior officials.
But the most formidable pressure comes from a long-oppressed people impatient for change after years of isolation, poverty and oppression. They have tasted freedom for the first time since the army seized power in a 1962 coup - and they want more.
The government, led by former generals, appears to recognise that the people want immediate improvement. “If we reform very quickly, people will feel the tangible dividends of democracy,” said Industry Minister Soe Thein. “But if they get nothing, they’ll feel the former government and the new government are the same. That is why we want to push reforms very quickly.” That haste worries development agencies experienced in rebuilding troubled countries such as Myanmar, whose problems are magnified by its size. - Reuters
2 comments:
Myanmar faces major hurdles in its quest for change
The most formidable pressure comes from a long-oppressed people impatient to see results
Reuters
27 June 2012
[NAYPYITAW, Myanmar] The desks are mostly empty. Two computers idle in a corner. A young woman in a sarong leafs through a newspaper. Welcome to what should be the fast-beating heart of Myanmar’s economy: the headquarters of the central bank.
The first tour of the complex by a foreign journalist reveals an almost lifeless institution. The Monetary Policy Department has just three computers, about the same as the Bank Supervision Department. A training department has fewer than five, including one being used for video games.
“The staff shortage is not just a problem at the central bank but also at many other institutions in our country,” said deputy central bank governor Nay Aye. “We also need help with technology.” Underscoring the point, the building’s power went out twice during the interview.
As Myanmar opens up after almost 50 years of army rule, and foreign investors descend on the resource-rich country of 60 million, its long-isolated institutions are struggling to keep up, raising the risk of a policy misstep that could wreck stability in this nascent democracy.
The pace of change, already frenetic, looks set to accelerate after President Thein Sein announced on June 19 a second phase of reforms. The goal: tripling the size of the economy in five years and modernising a backward state where 30 per cent of the population live under the poverty line and three-quarters get by with no electricity.
A Reuters examination of the policymaking apparatus of the hitherto secretive government reveals how difficult that will be. Inexperienced and thinly staffed ministries are grappling with growing workloads and hastily training themselves in the ways of a world that Myanmar shunned for nearly half a century. The former military junta isn’t dragging its feet on economic reform. In fact, it is pushing ahead so fast that foreign advisers here on the ground say it risks overloading its rickety institutions.
“They really aim to reform just about anything and everything at this stage,” said Craig Steffensen, the Asian Development Bank’s chief on Myanmar and Thailand. He said Myanmar officials want to do things right and are seeking the best advice. But “there is so much on their plate right now and so few people involved in evaluating all of this, that I think they’re getting to the point where they are overwhelmed”.
In less than a year, the government has drafted dozens of new bills, freed hundreds of political prisoners, legalised trade unions, signed peace deals with ethnic rebels, eased censorship, unshackled the political opposition, announced plans for a stock exchange, reformed its currency and held historic by-elections. Its rewards - a suspension of US and European sanctions, and a gold rush of foreign investors - have policymakers racing to overhaul an economy blighted by decades of failed socialist planning and military crony capitalism.
The world isn’t simply watching. Multilateral agencies - the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank - are offering advice, but it is often conflicting, according to interviews with nearly a dozen senior officials.
But the most formidable pressure comes from a long-oppressed people impatient for change after years of isolation, poverty and oppression. They have tasted freedom for the first time since the army seized power in a 1962 coup - and they want more.
The government, led by former generals, appears to recognise that the people want immediate improvement. “If we reform very quickly, people will feel the tangible dividends of democracy,” said Industry Minister Soe Thein. “But if they get nothing, they’ll feel the former government and the new government are the same. That is why we want to push reforms very quickly.” That haste worries development agencies experienced in rebuilding troubled countries such as Myanmar, whose problems are magnified by its size. - Reuters
Post a Comment