richardsng_era

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...368138/1/.html


Children affected by Cyclone Nargis wait for food in Dala



Posted: 14 August 2008 2353 hrs

YANGON: The United Nations estimates that 1.56 million dollars of international cyclone aid has been lost due to the military regime's complex foreign currency rules, a top official said on Thursday.

The figure given by Daniel Baker, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar, was significantly lower than earlier estimates of money lost due to the regulations, which forbid the use of foreign currency inside the country.

"The loss in value due to foreign exchange for the Cyclone Nargis international humanitarian aid during the last three months has been about 1.56 million dollars," Baker said in a joint statement by the UN, Myanmar's government and the regional Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"We are not getting the full value of dollars donated for emergency relief, and donors are extremely worried and keen to see that this issue is resolved," Baker added.

John Holmes, the UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, last month had estimated that the losses could amount to 10 million dollars, or about 15 percent of the aid delivered to Myanmar.

The latest accounting was based on the amount of money actually changed by the United Nations inside Myanmar since the cyclone struck on May 2, leaving 138,000 dead or missing.

The problem stems from Myanmar's ban on foreign currency. When the United Nations brings US dollars into the country, it receives so-called Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC), which are normally equal to one US dollar.

The FECs can be converted into the local kyat currency, but they are being changed at a rate of about 900 kyats to one, or 23 percent less than the current exchange rate of 1,170 kyats for one dollar.

Planning Minister Soe Tha has proposed that UN agencies make their purchases through direct bank transfers, to avoid the need for cash, the statement said.

Bishow Parajuli, coordinator for UN agencies in Myanmar, said bank transfers should resolve the bulk of the problem.

Rebuilding Myanmar's cyclone-devastated regions and providing aid to millions of victims is expected to cost one billion dollars over the next three years.


- AFP/so

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