Myanmar is likely to commence the adoption of a new financial year starting from 2018, according to the FY2018- 2019 Coordination Meeting on National Planning and Legislation held on September 22.
Financial authorities will dispatch a memorandum to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Assembly of the Union), the national-level bicameral legislature of the country, in pursuit of parliamentary endorsement to redefine the beginning and ending dates of the nation’s financial year, said Kyaw Win, Minister for Planning and Finance.
Myanmar’s current budget year runs from April 1 to March 31, and the officials are planning to reset it from October 1 to September 30. If the parliament agrees to follow the new dates, the adoption will take effect beginning from 2018, according to the meeting attendees. “We are sending a memorandum to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw to get parliamentary approval. If the parliament agrees, we will start to use the new period starting from 2018-2019 financial year,” said Nwet Nwet Win, Director General of the Budget Department under the Ministry of Planning and Finance.
The decision to change the budget year dates starting from the coming term was agreed at the Union Government Meeting No. 17/2017 that took place on September 7. The resolution immediately came after a presidential call for change to the dates of the budget year in order to uplift the country’s construction sector. “The current financial year stages a hindrance to developers, since the beginning of a financial year in April is close to rainy season. Developers have to wait four months until the end of the rainy season to start construction as the government procedures announce construction tender winners at the beginning of the financial year. Adoption of a new financial year will give developers enough time in the dry season to start their projects,” said President Htin Kyaw to a Myanmar Financial Commission meeting on July 6. The needs of the construction projects and economic paradigm shifts have prompted the move to alter the budget year dates from April 1-March 31 to October 1-September 30, said Maung Maung Tint, Director-General of the Planning Department under the Ministry of Planning and Finance. There are three periods used for the financial year internationally – April 1 to March 31, October 1 to September 30, and January 1 to December 31.
