Myanmar's military leaders came under renewed pressure Tuesday as the world's wealthiest nations condemned the junta for responding to anti-coup demonstrators "with violence", while Indonesia angled for a peace-broker role.

Authorities have gradually ratcheted up their use of force against a massive and largely peaceful civil disobedience campaign demanding the return of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Late on Tuesday, Myanmar's ministry of Transportation confirmed Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi will arrive in the capital Naypyidaw on Thursday for a day of talks.

She will be the first foreign envoy to touch down in the country since the February 1 coup. Indonesia has been proactive in lobbying neighbouring countries to help mediate the crisis through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

United Nations special envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener is also hoping to visit the country soon.

"They say I am always welcome 'but for the moment you cannot come' so it's a yes but not yet," she told France 24 ahead of a special UN General Assembly meeting on Myanmar scheduled Friday.

Three anti-coup protesters have been killed in demonstrations so far, while a man patrolling his Yangon neighbourhood against night arrests was also shot dead on the weekend.

"Use of live ammunition against unarmed people is unacceptable," the foreign ministers of the G7 group of rich democracies -- comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, and the United States together with the EU -- said in a statement Tuesday.

"Anyone responding to peaceful protests with violence must be held to account," they said, calling for Myanmar security forces to "exercise utmost restraint and respect human rights and international law".

The sharp condemnation comes after the overnight blacklisting of another two members of the regime by the United States -- air force chief Maung Maung Kyaw and fellow junta member Moe Myint Tun -- after Washington announced targeted sanctions against other top generals earlier this month.

Hours earlier, the European Union also approved sanctions targeting Myanmar's military and their economic interests, with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying financial support to government reform programmes was being "withheld".

Protesters continued staging rallies across Myanmar, though commercial hub Yangon saw much smaller numbers massing at key junctions on Tuesday, holding impromptu concerts.

"The military has always won using weapons and I don't like that at all," said protester Chan Mya. "We hate that and we'll keep protesting and expressing what we feel in peaceful ways."

In the northern Kachin state city of Myitkyina -- which has seen bursts of violence from authorities -- protesters rode their motorbikes across town waving the Myanmar flag and flashing a three-finger salute, a symbol of resistance.

Mandalay saw a more sombre crowd at the funeral of Thet Naing Win, a 37-year-old man shot and killed Saturday when security forces opened fire into a crowd of anti-coup protesters.

"I beg for all to help see that my husband's case is ruled with justice," said his widow Thidar Hnin, adding that she wants to see "the dictator dethroned".

"This country is owned by the citizens," she told AFP.

- Hundreds arrested -

Since the February 1 coup, a total of 696 people have been arrested, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group, with nearly all still behind bars.

Overnight internet shutdowns have also become routine, fanning fears of anti-coup protester arrests during the blackouts.

In recent weeks, the Myanmar military has deployed tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets against protesters, with isolated incidents of the use of live rounds.

They have also stepped up the presence of security forces in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city.

The crackdown has failed to quell weeks of massive street demonstrations, joined by large numbers of striking civil servants, bank staff and healthcare workers.

Tens of thousands rallied on Monday in Naypyidaw, a military stronghold. More than 100 people were arrested as police chased protesters through the streets.

According to the Naypyidaw Justice Centre, a legal aid centre, they helped secure the release of about 20 protesters by Tuesday. It remains unclear how many are still behind bars.

The civil servants' boycott has choked many government operations, as well as businesses and banks, and at the weekend the junta gave its most ominous warning yet that its patience was wearing thin.

"Protesters are now inciting the people, especially emotional teenagers and youths, to a confrontation path where they will suffer the loss of life," said a message aired on state media.

Suu Kyi has not been seen since she was detained in a dawn raid and has been hit with two charges by the junta, one of them for possessing unregistered walkie-talkies.

Her hearing is expected on March 1.

Myanmar's military coup creates banking woes
Yangon (AFP) Feb 24, 2021 - Early bird customers of a military-owned bank queued anxiously as dawn light crept over Yangon, after a strict new limit on daily cash withdrawals fuelled rumours of a money shortage in post-coup Myanmar.

Myawaddy Bank is among scores of military-controlled businesses in Myanmar facing boycott pressures since the generals ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power on February 1.

Nationwide protests have called for employees -- including bank workers -- to skip work, seizing up a banking sector heavily dominated by the military and its cronies ahead of the monthly payday this Friday.

For those in need of cash, it does not help that no clear information has been released.

In commercial hub Yangon, private banks remain mostly closed, government banks seem partly open, and getting cash from ATMs appears to be a touch-and-go endeavour.

The uncertainty has fuelled worries of cash shortages, said Tun Naing, a 43-year-old businessman who has queued up daily for the past week to withdraw six million Myanmar kyat -- or about $4,500 -- from his Myawaddy bank account.

"Because of rumours about this bank, I came to withdraw my money," he told AFP.

Despite being the sixth-biggest domestic bank in Myanmar, Myawaddy is only allowing 200 customers per branch to make withdrawals limited to 500,000 kyat a day -- about $370.

Getting a spot in the morning is key, with "some people staying at nearby hotels to queue early for tokens", Tun Naing said.

Others are not so lucky.

Retired teacher Myint Myint has been queueing every day for a week but still has not been able to make a withdrawal.

"I'm really fed up," the 64-year-old told AFP.

"They should announce through (state-run media) that our money is okay... Although my savings are not much, I'm worrying because of rumours."

Despite the irregular opening schedules of banks across Yangon, a notice in state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar claimed that daily services were still being provided.

"People are requested to take part in this process for ensuring economic stability of the country," read the Central Bank notice.

- 'Elevated political risk' -

While the risk of cash shortages in the country is high, the timeframe is unpredictable, said Myanmar-born international business expert Htwe Htwe Thein from Australia's Curtin University.

"In the past under the previous military government, they had been known to print money and that of course hyped up inflation," she told AFP.

The pre-coup Myanmar economy was already facing severe economic headwinds from the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures.

And the situation is expected to get worse because of a civil disobedience movement that has government employees boycotting work.

The generals have already been hit with sanctions by the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union, and the larger economy is also at risk of suffering reputational damage and a decline in foreign direct investment.

International credit ratings agency Fitch swiftly revised the country's growth estimates for most of 2021 down from 5.6 percent to 2 percent on the day of the coup, citing "elevated political risks".

A potential pause on foreign cash inflow has raised the alarm for activist group Justice for Myanmar, who say the generals could now dip into some $6.7 billion worth of Myanmar's foreign reserves.

So far, US sanctions have included a $1 billion asset freeze.

"If foreign banks continue to do business with these banks under military-control, they will be complicit in propping up the military regime," Justice for Myanmar said.

- 'I have enough difficulties already' -

On the ground, the worries are more immediate -- such as how companies will pay their employees at the end of the month or how the elderly will get their pensions as hundreds of thousands take to the streets to protest against the coup.

Aye Aye, 85, said between the unclear opening schedule of her bank and the demonstrators on the street, she is reluctant to withdraw her pension until the situation gets calmer.

"I will take it next month," she said, though it would likely put some pressure on her household as she cares for two ill relatives.

"I have enough difficulties already," she told AFP.

"As I'm old, I worry only for today."

Outside a Myawaddy branch on Tuesday, a lone security guard tried to calm a small crowd clamouring to withdraw their funds.

He shouted that company accounts were being prioritised so they can pay salaries.

"We will resume cash withdrawals after these companies (have done their withdrawals)," he announced at the bank gates, barring an anxious crowd from entering.

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Two dead as Myanmar police open fire on protesters in deadliest day since coup
Yangon (AFP) Feb 20, 2021
Two people were killed in Myanmar's second largest city as security forces fired live rounds on protestors, emergency workers and doctors said Saturday - the latest show of force from a junta regime that has faced two straight weeks of anti-coup demonstrations. Much of the country has been in uproar since the military deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, with large street demonstrations seen in major cities and isolated villages alike. Authorities have responded with increasi ... read more