Myanmar citizens consuming more oil than WHO recommends, palm oil imports being reduced due to foreign exchange situation, admits Min Aung Hlaing's spokesperson, Kyaw Kyaw Soe

Yangon, July 11 Kyaw Kyaw Soe, spokesperson for the terrorist Min Aung Hlaing, admitted today that palm oil imports are being reduced due to the fact that the people of Myanmar are consuming more edible oil than the amount recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and due to the need to carefully manage based on foreign exchange earnings. To meet the demand for edible oil in Myanmar, over 50,000 tons of palm oil are imported monthly, costing approximately US$1,150 per ton, resulting in an expenditure of over US$58 million per month. He stated that the imported palm oil is distributed at the fixed reference price, and arrangements are made for those with edible oil purchase books to buy at a subsidized price. He further said that Yangon Region, with its large population and high demand for edible oil, is allocated more quotas than other regions, and is sold at a rate of 1 viss and 24 ticals per person per month. Although the edible oil produced domestically from groundnuts, soybeans, sunflowers, and sesame seeds amounts to about 280,000 tons annually, it cannot meet the needs of the people, so about 641,783 tons of palm oil are imported from abroad. He explained that the total domestic production and imports exceed 921,000 tons annually. Calculating this amount for Myanmar's population of 51 million, it is found that each person consumes an average of about 11 viss per year, while according to WHO recommendations, each person should consume only about 6.5 viss per year, he said. "In Myanmar, when one person consumes an average of 11 viss per year, it is far beyond the amount recommended by WHO. As oil consumption increases, foreign exchange spending also increases. Due to the need to manage carefully based on foreign exchange earnings, situations where oil imports have to be reduced also arise," said Dr. Kyaw Kyaw Soe. Kyaw Kyaw Soe blamed profiteers for the fact that although the current military council sells palm oil at between 7,000 and 9,000 kyats per viss, the price rises to between 18,000 and 20,000 kyats per viss by the time it reaches the hands of the public who do not have purchase books. This is due to the policy of reducing imports and increasing exports, which the terrorist military leader Min Aung Hlaing has been implementing as a 100-day plan, resulting in palm oil, which is mainly consumed by the basic strata of society, becoming scarce in major cities including Yangon and Mandalay, and the price in the external market rising to between 18,000 and 20,000 kyats per viss. The military is reducing imports due to a decrease in foreign exchange reserves, and under this policy, the amount of palm oil imported into Myanmar has been reduced by at least 30 percent, and the allocation of import licenses and US dollars has also been controlled. While Myanmar normally imports around 800,000 to 1 million tons of palm oil annually, this year's import volume is only over 600,000 tons. Previously, each person was allocated 2.25 ticals of palm oil, but this has now been reduced to 1.65 ticals. It is understood that in Yangon Region, oil quotas have been reduced by up to 50 percent by township, and the remaining quotas are being distributed among consumers. Although the military council is continuing to reduce palm oil imports to curb foreign exchange spending and is implementing a policy of substituting domestic oil crops, oil traders and businessmen predict that as a consequence of this policy, it will become more difficult for the basic strata of society to purchase palm oil, and prices may continue to rise.