Lines, tokens and money brokers: Myanmar's crumbling economy runs low on cash

People line up outside a bank to withdraw cash, in Yangon, Myanmar May 13, 2021. - Reuters

YANGON (Reuters): If you need cash in Myanmar, you have to get up early. Queues start forming outside banks at 4am, where the first 15 or 30 customers are given a plastic token that will allow them to enter the bank when it opens at 9.30am and withdraw cash, according to more than a dozen people who spoke to Reuters.

If you do not get a token, you either have to queue for hours for the few functioning cash dispensing machines outside or go to black-market brokers who charge big commissions.