US imposes sanctions on Myanmar’s defense ministry, two banks -Treasury website

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday levelled sanctions against Myanmar’s Ministry of Defense and two banks used by the Southeast Asian country’s military to purchase arms and other goods in foreign currencies, according to the Treasury Department’s website.

The sanctions hit the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB), which receive and transmit foreign currencies for Myanmar’s government, including state-owned enterprises that raise much of the junta’s revenues.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis; editing by Rami Ayyub)