Almost US$20 billion in dirty money left Myanmar in five decades - researchers

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Almost US$20 billion in dirty money left Myanmar in five decades - researchers

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Almost US$20 billion (13 billion pounds) in dirty money linked to corruption, crime and tax evasion has left Myanmar in the past five decades, slashing government revenue and driving a thriving underground economy, a money-laundering watchdog said on Wednesday.

Fraudulent invoicing of trade deals and physical smuggling of drugs, timber, gems and other goods pose big challenges to Myanmar, which will hold its first general elections next month since the end of military rule, U.S.-based Global Financial Integrity said in a report.

Illicit financial inflows have accelerated in the past few years as the economy has opened up, and over the past five decades were four times as big as outflows, it said.

"Myanmar must be one of the most porous countries in the world," GFI economist Joseph Spanjers, the report's co-author, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"It is a serious challenge for the country as tax losses due to illicit flows are robbing it of crucial public funds."

Long isolation and trade restrictions during the nearly 50-year-long reign of a military government until 2011 and attempts to regulate currency exchange rates have combined to drive a substantial part of Myanmar's economy underground, GFI said.

The Southeast Asian country, one of the poorest in the region, is not alone in grappling with the negative impacts of illicit financial flows.

Full Story: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/almost-us-20-billion-in-d/2116178.html

-- Thomson Reuters Foundation/ Channel News Asia 2015-09-10

[ggt]

This is why we have "money laundering"...to clean up dirty money...any questions?

[elgordo38]

This is why we have "money laundering"...to clean up dirty money...any questions?

Will the so called "Democracy" taking place there help or hinder these problems. Money is so fluid today and if your country is the flavor of the month you win. Like Thailand money ebbs and flows and where it goes nobody knows. There is a money tsunami encircling the globe looking for a temporary home. When conditions no longer favor its visit it moves on like a hummingbird from flower to flower.

[spidermike007]

This is s a rather humorous post, since 90% of that dirty money was taken out by the 50 or 60 top generals, and government officials. And my guess is that the figure is five times what is being reported. The so called democratic reforms are an even bigger scam. It is business as usual in Burma. The generals are still earning billions. They are the biggest heroin dealers in Asia.

[maidee]

small money

compared to all the drugs exported & the profits from that business