Reuters-Tension pushes Myanmar kyat

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Tension pushes Myanmar kyat to record lows 
09:04 a.m. Aug 13, 1998 Eastern 

YANGON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Increasingly strained ties between the ruling
military and the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) pushed the
Myanmar kyat to record lows on Thursday, currency dealers said. 
Currency dealers in Yangon said the kyat fell to 384 versus the dollar and
to 365 against Myanmar's dollar-based Foreign Exchange Certificate (FEC)
from its previous lows of 380 and 360 respectively on Wednesday. 
``The relations between the government and the opposition have a powerful
impact on the market as it can cause immediate panic among dealers and
traders,'' one currency dealer said. 
Dealers attributed the kyat's sharp setbacks in the past two days to panic
dollar buying by speculators. 
Myanmar's military rulers faced pressures from inside and outside the
country as a roadside standoff between opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and security guards entered its second day. Suu Kyi, a member of her
National League for Democracy (NLD) party and two drivers were stopped by
police on Wednesday on their way to see supporters in Pathein, 190 km (120
miles) west of the capital. 
International pressure on the government was also stepped up on Thursday as
a U.S. lawmaker headed for Asia to try to secure the release of 18 foreign
activists detained in Yangon on Sunday for distributing pro-democracy
leaflets. 
FECs were introduced in February, 1993, each at a par value to one U.S.
dollar, mainly for the convenience of foreign visitors who refused to
accept what they regarded as an unrealistic official exchange rate of 6.39
kyat per dollar.