Sales of various goods, from food to luxury products, have seen a drastic drop following the Tatmadaw\u2019s decla\u00adration of a one-year state of emergen\u00adcy, said U Soe Min, a businessperson from Pyinmana, Nay Pyi Taw.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople are only buying essentials because everyone is anxious about the current situation at this time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another distributor of eggs and poultry products in Nay Pyi Taw also said the sale of eggs has dropped by about 70 percent now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBefore, 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,\u201d said U Yin Oo.<\/ins><\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, poultry sales and that of other types of meat have also been hit hard by the unstable political situ\u00adation in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBusiness is very tough for the time being. Some don\u2019t even see a single customer for the whole day,\u201d said store owner Ko Myo Lin Aung.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently in Myanmar, mar\u00adkets 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drop in spending has also hit local startups and SMEs hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe SME sector is done for. We don\u2019t 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,\u201d said U Min Thu, secretary at the MSME Association (Yangon).<\/p>\n\n\n\n MSMEs (micro, small and me\u00addium enterprises) experienced many problems during the pandemic and some were forced to fold. To promote the sector again, products were intro\u00adduced online in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeing cut off from the internet for two days, online transactions completely stopped. Even though things are back online, transactions have not recommenced,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MSMEs make up 90pc of the country\u2019s economy and with more going belly up, there might be huge unemployment problems in the future, he said. \u2013 Translated<\/p>\n\n\n\n