The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has said that rules were changed to take 90 percent of dollars deposited by tourism businesses and major businesses earning dollars in banks in order to facilitate easy availability of dollars for businesses.
In a press release, the central bank said that under the Foreign Exchange Act, banks have been selling 60 percent of dollar deposits to the central bank every week.
However, from June 1, the amount will be increased to 90 percent to facilitate foreign currency for businesses, the statement said.
"This change is to facilitate the banks to provide foreign exchange requirements to businesses in a more robust manner through the weekly foreign exchange sales by the authority to banks," the MMA said.
The decision to take a large percentage of the exchanged dollars to the MMA is in contrast to the statements made by the MMA Governor, Ahmed Munawwar, after the Foreign Exchange Law came into effect.
He said at a press briefing on November 27, 2024, that the solution to the dollar shortage is to inject dollars into banks. He said the decision to keep 60 percent of the exchanged foreign currency in banks was for that purpose.
Munawwar said the rules were needed to introduce dollars into the official market instead of the black market, which has expanded after the COVID-19 pandemic. He said banks will be able to provide overdraft facilities to resorts to resolve issues.
The governor was responding to a question about concerns raised by businesses that they might have to buy dollars from the black market and exchange them with banks in order to comply with the Foreign Exchange Act.
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu told a news conference earlier this month that USD 214 million had been deposited with banks so far since the law came into effect four months ago.
