Financial institutions the world over have evolved depending on the economic policies of the government of the day as well as other economic imperatives. This has been accompanied by ideological and philosophical differences in banking policy. In this paper, I shall seek to examine the evolution of these financial institutions in Burma in three epochal periods namely- the colonial era, parliamentary democracy era and the era of military rule.
Colonial era
During this period there were hardly any indigenous banks in Burma. Those that were existent were western banks mainly British banks that served the elite class. The exchange banks mainly ...