Fuel Hoarders to Face Jail Time in Myanmar as Shortage Bites

Myanmar’s junta launched a new crackdown on fuel hoarding Monday with authorities threatening to jail anyone found with more than 180 litres of petrol without a licence, state media reported, as the country reels from an acute shortage.

The Petroleum Products Regulatory Department began “supervision and inspection of unlicensed transport and storage” of petrol products on Sunday, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

Anyone caught storing or transporting “more than 50 gallons (180 litres) of petroleum products without a licence” will face a year in jail or be fined $2,370, it said.

The crackdown comes as commercial hub Yangon reels from a fuel shortage, with drivers in the city of 8 million people queueing at dawn in the hope of securing the scarce commodity.

The shortage also affects businesses and hospitals that rely on generators for power during the city’s frequent electricity blackouts.

Myanmar’s kyat currency has plunged against the dollar since the military seized power in 2021, hitting importers’ ability to pay for fuel shipments.

The economy has tanked since the coup, which sparked huge pro-democracy protests that were crushed by a military crackdown.

Dozens of “People’s Defence Forces” have since sprung up across the country to fight the junta, with regular clashes across swathes of the country.

Earlier this year, the World Bank said Myanmar’s GDP was projected to increase by three percent in the year to September 2023, still around 10 percent lower than in 2019.

“Severe supply and demand constraints” continue to hamper economic activity, it said.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)