(Rangoon) Despite the monsoon, dozens of people are queuing in the streets of Rangoon for subsidized cooking oil, one of the many products that have become rarer and more expensive with the dual political and economic crisis in Burma.
Posted at 10:57 a.m.
The country, ruled by a military junta since the coup of 1er February, did not escape the fever of inflation, which climbed to 17.8% in April according to the latest data from the National Statistics Office.
“If only one person works, the family won’t have enough money to eat,” says Khin Khin Than, 55, who is waiting to fill his plastic bottle with oil sold by a local association.
This housewife calculated that the price of oil rose from 5,000 kyats to 9,000 kyats (4.20 EUR) for 1.6 liters, an increase of almost 80%.
While the regime suppresses dissenting voices, even the official newspaper evokes almost daily the bad news about rice, eggs, vegetables or rents which become more expensive.
Inflation is dealing a severe blow to Burma, whose GDP this year is 13% lower than in 2019, according to World Bank projections.
Nearly 40% of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the institution which lists the evils of the economy: rise in the price of imported products due to the conflict in Ukraine, power cuts, armed conflicts in the country, several changes in the policies of the junta…
Generosity
Last week, the price of gasoline rose by six euro cents overnight, to a record high of 2440 kyats per liter (1.15 EUR).
State media reported on Thursday that the junta had launched a steering committee to import oil from Russia, one of the few allies of increasingly isolated Burma on the international scene.
In this context, many rely on generosity to fill their stomachs.
“If we cook at home, there is no electricity, rice is expensive to buy,” says Lay Lay, one of hundreds of people waiting outside a Buddhist temple in Yangon for a free meal of rice and curry.
“The ingredients are too expensive for someone retired,” he says.
Ashin Ottamasiri, the monk overseeing the distribution, says his temple offers 500 coupons every day that entitle the monks to a meal cooked with the food they themselves receive as offerings.
“But some days there are more than 600 people,” he admits. “If we run out of rice and curry, we give cakes, snacks and fruit. »
“I can’t give shelter to many people, but I can share food, so they have the same meals as me,” he says.