Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of February 1, 2021, when democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—which then vested power in a military junta. Acting president Myint Swe proclaimed a year-long state of emergency and declared power had been transferred to Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing. It declared the results of the November 2020 general election invalid and stated its intent to hold a new election at the end of the state of emergency. The new, military junta-led Government of Myanmar subsequently signed a debt rescheduling agreement with China Eximbank that covered several previously contracted loans (worth $129,910,000). The terms and conditions of the rescheduling agreement are unknown.
Staff comments
1. According to a lawyer (Nishant Choudhary) who supported the deal, he ‘[a]dvised the Exim Bank of China in restructuring several of its loans (USD 129,910,000) by first assisting in a due-diligence process and then assisting with drafting the transaction documents. This deal is notable as it is considered to be one of the first deals under the new regime to receive the Central 'Bank's approval for the loan restructuring. This required active liaison with the Central Bank after advising the Client on the transaction documentation.’ 2. The precise date of the rescheduling agreement is unknown. For the time being, AidData has coded the agreement (commitment) date as December 31, 2021.