Myanmar Monthly Business Brief, October 2025

Economy

Loan applications open for rehabilitation in Mandalay quake-hit areas

The powerful Mandalay earthquake that struck on 28 March 2025 caused damage to the homes, factories, and businesses of citizens, including civil servants, in Nay Pyi Taw Union Territory, Mandalay Region, Sagaing Region, Magway Region, Bago Region, and northeastern Shan State.

Low-interest loans with terms of three to five years will be offered using state funds to help rebuild earthquake-affected areas.

• Home and Building Reconstruction Loans (three per cent interest rate)
• Working Capital, Equipment, Water, Electricity, Solar, and Investment Loans for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) (five per cent interest rate)
• Large Factory Renovation and Operational Loans (seven per cent interest rate)
• Temporary Loans for Construction Firms Building State- Owned Infrastructure (seven per cent interest rate)

The banks and non-bank financial institutions participating in the loan programme are AYA Bank PCL, UAB Bank PCL, CB Bank PCL, Ayeyawady Farmers Development Bank, Yoma Bank, Construction, Housing & Infrastructure Development Bank, Myanmar Citizens Bank, Kanbawza Bank, Myawady Bank, Innwa Bank, Best Merchant Finance Co Ltd, and Zega Finance Co Ltd. CBM announced that businesses and individuals in earthquake-affected areas can now apply for loans through any of the participating banks and non-bank financial institutions.

Worldbox Business Intelligence Risk Rating – October 2025

Worldbox Business Intelligence Risk Rating released in October 2025. The risk assessment of a country is made up of four components. Each component is scored out of 10 with 1 being the highest risk and 10 the lowest. Ratings for Myanmar are;

• Overall Risk Score 12/40 (Negative)
• Political risk: Negative 3/10
• Economic risk: Negative 3/10
• Commercial risk: Negative 3/10
• Technology risk: Negative 3/10

ESG Risk: 3/10 (Negative) Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are becoming increasingly important to companies, investors and consumers in Southeast Asia.

Finance

Kyat Shows V CBM Interventions; Gold and Fuel Prices Fluctuate

The kyat hovered around K4,060 per US dollar at the end of October, reflecting continued depreciation pressure. The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) intervened throughout the month, selling millions of US dollars, yuan, and baht to stabilize the exchange rate and support imports of essential goods. CBM injected US dollars over 130 million and 100 million baht in October, into the edible oil, fuel, and CMP sectors.

Gold prices were increasing throughout the month, closing at 8.3 million kyats per tickle for buying and 8.4 million kyats for selling. Domestic fuel prices showed a decrease in October.

CBM moves to absorb excess liquidity

The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) announced on 3 October 2025 at the monetary policy committee meeting that it would withdraw excess liquidity in an economy by increasing the Interest on Average Excess Reserve (IOER) paid to the banks for deposits in Myanmar Kyat beyond the 28 days minimum reserve requirement and setting the IOER interest rate based on the one-month (average) interest rate in the monetary market. Strong money circulation in the economic system led to higher interest rates in September 2024. Increased digital consumption stimulated rising deposits in banking operations. Consequently, CBM hiked the minimum reserve requirement ratio as well.

The meeting highlighted monitoring excess liquidity to ease potential inflationary pressure as the money supply is beyond expectations, and high-interest-rate issues arise. Monetary policies related to stabilizing and recovering the economy, supporting the State’s economic growth targets, reviewing macroeconomic conditions and not hiking interest rates, focusing on exchange rate stability and stipulation of minimum reserve requirement were discussed to tackle inflation. CBM’s move will control inflation and currency depreciation, maximize banks’ interest income and bring about banking sector stability and financial stability, as per CBM’s notification.