Although the military council announced that it will take action against businesses that trade in foreign currency illegally, economic analysts noted that it is not easy to control the dollar exchange rate in the open market.

On August 27, the regime’s Central Bank announced that it will take effective action against businesses that illegally trade foreign currency online, in accordance with Foreign Exchange Management Law.

The statement said that the central bank is in talks with banks and major fuel oil companies to facilitate easy access to foreign currency for fuel importers, and is coordinating with other related ministries that are the main regulators of the country's economy.

The regime’s central bank controls foreign currency while foreign currency cannot be bought at the exchange counters, so it cannot control trading in dollars in the open market, a business analyst said.

The Central Bank of the military council has started to control foreign currency since June and has been issuing various decrees on monetary policy.

The reference exchange rate was also set at 2,100 kyats per US dollar, while it was over 3,000 kyats per dollar in the black market.

On August 19, the Central Bank dismissed the Chairman and appointed Deputy Chairman Daw Than Than Swe as the Chairman of the Central Bank, however, the central bank has not been able to control the record high dollar prices until now.

Section 38 of the Foreign Exchange Management Law stipulates that "no person shall operate a foreign currency business without a foreign currency business license."

Violation of these prohibitions is punishable by imprisonment for not more than three years, or a fine, or both, and confiscation of evidence.