Myanmar to vet state banks in push to revamp financial sector

Bangkok

MYANMAR is embarking on the first comprehensive audit of state-owned banks in decades, part of a push to modernise the financial system and tackle risks to the nation's rapid economic growth.

The World Bank is working with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi's government on the project and the results will help to clarify options for restructuring the sector, according to Nagavalli Annamalai, a lead counsel at the multilateral lender who specialises in banking sector development for almost two decades.

"These banks are under-capitalised," Washington, DC-based Ms Annamalai said in an int…