Myanmar’s ousted government has asked the US Federal Reserve to release $1 billion of its frozen funds in a bid to create a new central bank and issue its crypto.
Since February 2021, a portion of Myanmar’s reserves has been frozen by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in response to the country’s military coup that exiled its democratic government and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
“We just need the US blessing that allows us to use the frozen money virtually,” said the National Unity Government’s minister of planning, finance, and investment, Tin Tun Naing, in an interview with Bloomberg (our emphasis).
The funds would be used to support the deposed government in its attempts to regain control of Myanmar, which has fallen into economic and political turmoil.
While a long shot, Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido was granted access to US-held government funds in a bid to suppress President Nicolas Maduro’s foothold.
It remains unclear how the ousted government in Myanmar would use the funds to support itself, however, it has previously raised significant funds.
As reported by Bloomberg, the National Unity Government sold “Spring Revolution Special Treasury Bonds” and raised $53 million through a mock auction of mansions owned by the country’s current junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing.
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