Myanmar President Thein Sein on July 11 signed a new law making the country’s central bank an independent body.

Under the law whose details have yet been made public, the central bank will no longer be managed by the Finance Ministry.

The bank’s main role up to now has been printing money to fund the Government’s budget deficit.

Myanmar’s quasi-civilian Government has announced a series of political and economic reforms since coming to power in 2011.

Last year, it began to overhaul Myanmar’s complex foreign exchange system in a bid to facilitate trade and investment.

Since the US and other western countries lifted most of their sanctions on Myanmar, the country has welcomed a large number of foreign companies which sought investment opportunities.-VNA