Bank of Maldives (BML) announced today that it is facing challenges in processing Telegraphic Transfers (TTs) for imports due to a shortage of US dollars.
The bank today introduced a new monthly limit of $16 million for the entire country for transactions on foreign e-commerce sites. In a statement, the bank admitted its inability to meet the current demand for foreign currency.
"This sustained demand has placed considerable pressure on the Bank's foreign currency liquidity and has affected our ability to provide other foreign currency services, particularly Telegraphic Transfers (TTs), which are currently facing delays. This has also resulted in increased customer complaints regarding these services," it stated.
In 2024, BML had previously attempted to introduce card limits due to the dollar shortage. However, those changes were reversed on the same day after the government intervened, labeling the move an attempted "financial coup."
The bank’s decision to impose new limits comes as the government continues to introduce various policies aimed at resolving the persistent dollar crisis.
To address the shortage, the government mandated that resorts convert 20 percent of their foreign currency earnings into local currency in 2024. As the crisis persisted, this requirement was recently increased to 40 percent.
However, resort operators have argued that converting more than 10 percent of their revenue is not a sustainable business model. They highlighted that major expenses—including salaries, service charges, fuel, logistics, guest transfers, and taxes such as TGST, Green Tax, and Withholding Tax, as well as tourism land rent and loan repayments—are already settled in US dollars.
