BURMA: Soaring Kyat Slows Remittances from Abroad

The black market value of Burma's currency, the kyat, hit a three-year high of nearly 1,000 to the US dollar on Friday, putting a brake on the unofficial cash transfers from abroad known as hundi.

The kyat had been skyrocketing all week, reaching new highs against not only the dollar but also, on Wednesday, the Thai baht (25 kyat), Singapore dollar (714 kyat) and the Chinese yuan (1,639.34), according to hundi services in Bangkok, Singapore and at the Sino-Burmese border.

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