| By NAW SENG | Tuesday, May 13, 2003 |
Yoma Bank, one of Burma’s largest private banks, is reportedly preparing to sell its capital assets for the first time since the onset of the banking crisis four months ago, according to a Rangoon businessman. Over a dozen of the bank’s Hi-Ace model Toyotas, some featuring their corporate logo, are to be sold by a car broker, said a source close to the car trading business. The cars are going for at least 60 million kyat (US $60,000) each, he added. Officials from both the head office of Yoma Bank and their Hlaing Tharyar branch denied that the bank is getting into the used automobile business, saying, "We are not selling any cars." One man in Rangoon, however, told The Irrawaddy that he saw a number of Yoma Bank cars being displayed at a Pun Hlaing real estate development in Hlaing Tharyar Township. The Pun Hlaing development is being built by First Myanmar Investment Co Ltd (FMI), a part owner of Yoma Bank. Businessmen in Rangoon believe the reported move is linked to the bank’s financial problems. Members of Rangoon’s business community say that Yoma Bank has taken greater risks than other private banks. It reportedly has money invested in lottery and construction ventures and has given loans to now-defunct private service companies known to be key players in the banking crisis. In February, Burma’s Central Bank claimed that it injected 25 billion kyat (US $25 million) into the country’s three largest private banks—Asia Wealth Bank, Yoma Bank and Kanbawza Bank. Sources in Rangoon, however, have confirmed that this money never arrived. All three banks continue to face severe cash shortages.