Sales of various goods, from food to luxury products, have seen a drastic drop following the Tatmadaw’s declaration of a one-year state of emergency, said U Soe Min, a businessperson from Pyinmana, Nay Pyi Taw.
“People are only buying essentials because everyone is anxious about the current situation at this time,” he said.
Another distributor of eggs and poultry products in Nay Pyi Taw also said the sale of eggs has dropped by about 70 percent now.
“Before, we would sell around 140 cartons of eggs (4200 eggs) on a daily basis. Now, sales have fallen to only 40 cartons (1200 eggs) per day,” said U Yin Oo.
Moreover, poultry sales and that of other types of meat have also been hit hard by the unstable political situation in the country.
“Business is very tough for the time being. Some don’t even see a single customer for the whole day,” said store owner Ko Myo Lin Aung.
U Soe Moe, a tea shop owner, however, said his business has not changed because of the ongoing political instability. People are still coming to have their daily cups of tea, he said.
Currently in Myanmar, markets have yet to open fully due to COVID-19, while some remain closed. With the current political situation, people are worried that the economy will get worse and many have started becoming more frugal with their spending.
The drop in spending has also hit local startups and SMEs hard.
“The SME sector is done for. We don’t know what to do anymore. In addition to the damage from the pandemic, the current situation has made recovery even harder. We have lost hope now,” said U Min Thu, secretary at the MSME Association (Yangon).
MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) experienced many problems during the pandemic and some were forced to fold. To promote the sector again, products were introduced online in December.
“Being cut off from the internet for two days, online transactions completely stopped. Even though things are back online, transactions have not recommenced,” he said.
MSMEs make up 90pc of the country’s economy and with more going belly up, there might be huge unemployment problems in the future, he said. – Translated
Source: 因政治危機而歇業的緬甸中小企業逐漸增加