Burma's National Library and a TV studio complex are among five state-owned buildings sold to private investors, according to informed sources in Rangoon.
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A Privatization Commission official said that since late 2009 a total of 147 state-owned buildings, including factories and government ministry offices, had been sold off.
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The National Library went for only about 100 million kyat ($100,000), while the Yadanapon Theater, which belonged to the Myanma Motion Picture Enterprise of the Ministry of Information, fetched more than 920 million kyat (nearly $1 million).
One businessman with close contacts to regime officials suggested that state-run property was being sold off to raise funds for the development of the government quarter in Naypyidaw and help finance the upcoming election.
A retired professor from Rangoon's University of Economics expressed sorrow at the sale of the National Library, saying it contradicted an official statement assuring support for Burmese literature.
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