The surge follows rules enacted in 2024 that require migrant workers to remit 25% of their income through official banking channels. Failure to comply affects passport renewals and the right to work overseas, effectively securing international money flows for junta-linked banks at a time when sanctions and internal conflict have choked off other capital sources.
(May 14): Myanmar has turned migrant remittances into its biggest source of foreign inflows, Finance Ministry data seen by Bloomberg News showed, after the military imposed rules that pressure citizens abroad to send money home.
Worker remittances totalled US$5.6 billion ($7.1 billion) in 2025, about 38% of foreign inflows, the non-public data show, up from just US$670 million in 2022, the year after the military seized power.
