(May 14): Myanmar has turned migrant remittances into its biggest source of foreign inflows, Finance Ministry data seen by Bloomberg News showed, after the military imposed rules that pressure citizens abroad to send money home.
Worker remittances totalled US$5.6 billion ($7.1 billion) in 2025, about 38% of foreign inflows, the non-public data show, up from just US$670 million in 2022, the year after the military seized power.
The surge follows rules enacted in 2024 that require migrant workers to remit 25% of their income through official banking channels. Failure to comply affects passport renewals and the right to work overseas, effectively securing international money flows for junta-linked banks at a time when sanctions and internal conflict have choked off other capital sources.
“Surging remittance inflows are providing a financial lifeline to Myanmar’s tightly controlled banking system at a time when the authorities remain under pressure to stabilize foreign exchange liquidity and external balances,” said Kaho Yu, the principal Asia analyst of risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.
The windfall comes as the country’s military seeks to stabilise an economy battered by civil conflict and sanctions. Min Aung Hlaing was installed as the president earlier this year following an election dismissed by much of the West, but growth remains under pressure: inflation is hovering around 30%, while foreign direct investment fell to just US$83 million last year, the same data showed.
A spokesman for the Myanmar military didn’t respond to requests for comments.
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Control over foreign currency is critical for the military, which needs US dollars to pay for essential imports including fuel, pharmaceuticals and food. While payments for defense equipment and weapons are facilitated by state-owned banks, economists say remittances that flow through private lenders ultimately enter a tightly controlled financial system where authorities regulate how overseas currency is converted and used.
Several conglomerates in Myanmar operate private banks while maintaining deep ties to the military. United Nations investigators in 2019 called for criminal probes into two of them for their “substantial and direct contribution” to crimes against humanity against the Rohingya — allegations Myanmar has denied. The same fact-finding mission said private financial institutions have also been used to help procure aviation fuel and military equipment.
Officials in Myanmar have framed the country’s remittance rules as a way to channel funds through formal banking systems and curb informal transfers, part of broader efforts by the central bank to stabilise the foreign-exchange market. Reserves remain limited, at about US$8.5 billion as of March 2024, according to data economic data provider CEIC.
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The latest World Bank report on the country’s economy, from December, says remittances rose 46% in the 2024-25 fiscal year to US$2.1 billion, helping push Myanmar’s current account into surplus as other foreign exchange sources weakened. But the longer-term outlook is more fragile: Maplecroft’s Yu said rising outbound migration, driven by economic instability, is already creating labour shortages that could further erode the nation’s appeal to investors.
Myanmar’s migrant workforce is among the largest in Southeast Asia, with roughly 10% working abroad before the coup, including nearly two million people in Thailand and Malaysia, International Labour Organization data showed.
Workers and advocacy groups say remittance compliance is enforced via a web of agencies and embassies, with employment bodies often requiring migrants sign agreements committing to regular transfers. Their families can be contacted if payments lapse. In Thailand, migrant advocates say workers are told to remit at least 2,500 baht (US$77 or $98.46) a month — sometimes more than 25% of their wage. Myanmar authorities have also levied income taxes on its overseas workers.
Aung Thein Kyaw, a 31-year-old who works at a canned food factory in Thailand, said he decided to work abroad because he wanted to “stay away from politics and the chaos in Myanmar driven by the military coup”.
“But sadly we are still bound by crazy rules that could help them get foreign currencies,” who was contacted by Bloomberg through a labour rights organisation based in Thailand. “We have no choice but to send money.”
Banks initially converted remittances at below-market rates, advocates say, effectively extracting additional value, but have since moved closer to market pricing, reducing losses for migrants while still directing foreign currency into regulated channels.
While remittances are a critical source of foreign exchange for many developing economies, rights groups say Myanmar’s system, which ties mandatory transfers to passport renewals, may amount to a human rights violation.
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“A state’s refusal to issue a passport or extend its validity based on vaguely broad national interest concerns or administrative measures may amount to a violation of that person’s right to freedom of movement and the ability to earn a living,” said Joe Freeman, a Myanmar researcher at Amnesty International, who called for the policy to be either revised or revoked.
The International Labour Organization has warned the rules could push workers towards informal transfer systems, known as hundi, which are banned, while some migrants say the policy is making an already difficult economic situation worse.
“We’re struggling to make ends meet, particularly when we have to take sick leave or cannot work overtime,” said 29-year-old, Myo Ko Oo, who also works in Thailand, at a seafood processing factory. “It would be great if we are allowed to freely manage our hard-earned money on our own.”
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