FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2007 file photo, a woman looks at oversized versions of the new Venezuelan currency, coined the 'Strong Bolivar' in Caracas, Venezuela. Venezuela's government announced Friday, Feb. 8, 2013, that it is devaluing the country's currency, a long-anticipated change expected to push up prices in the heavily import-reliant economy. Officials said the fixed exchange rate is changing from 4.30 bolivars to the dollar to 6.30 bolivars to the dollar. Venezuela's government has had strict currency exchange controls since 2003 and maintains a fixed, government-set exchange rate. (AP Photo/Howard Yanes, File)
Myanmar ends use of special tourist currency
Published: 12:07:21 PM, Wed 20 March 2013 UTC
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar's parliament has endorsed a presidential decision to abandon the use of so-called Foreign Exchange Certificates, a special currency primarily used by tourists.
The director of President Thein Sein's office, Zaw Htay, says parliament unanimously agreed Wednesday with a presidential letter announcing the plan.
The Foreign Exchange Certificates were introduced in 1993 in an effort to stop tourists from exchanging currency on the black market, where the value of the dollar was considerably higher than its official rate against the kyat. It was mandatory until 2003 for tourists to buy at least $200 worth.
Last year, however, President Thein Sein's reformist government abandoned the two-tier exchange system that kept the official value of the kyat artificially high, and instituted a managed floating exchange rate system.
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