The Bank of Maldives (BML) CEO and Managing Director Mohamed Shareef stated last night that as BML and the Maldivian economy are bound together, the positive results from the bank shows that the economy is also in a good position.
While speaking at the inauguration ceremony of BML's digital wallet, Swipe, in Addu, Shareef said that the bank's growth will stream into the Maldivian economy, with the bank's progress being linked to the positive changes of the economy.
He stated that BML is a national bank and that it is in their best interest to set out to achieve the bank's purpose, and to conduct themselves in the most beneficial way possible for their shareholders, Maldivian citizens and the nation itself.
"We base all of our decisions on this," said the MD.
Some of the achievements highlighted by Shareef:
- Having offered ATM services to all inhabited islands. Citizens from 105 islands have directly benefited from it.
- Having introduced fishermen to the official banking system and giving out loans based on their revenue and for various purposes.
- The formulation of a BML subsidiary for the purpose of providing affordable homes to families within a rent-to-own model under the Maldives Monetary Authority's (MMA) Inclusive National Affordable Housing Scheme. The work in building more than 3,200 flats has begun via experienced and qualified Maldivian companies and overseas companies.
- Providing financial aid to the housing sector by offering loans under the government's Hiyaavehi Financing Scheme and lowering the loan equity to 20 percent in the purchase of a house or a flat. Loans up to MVR 3 million started being offered in the construction or repair of a house without an additional mortgage. The MD also said bringing about an end to an additional mortgage in order to repair one's own home was an important step taken by the bank for the industry.
- Transactions overseas via BML's cards from ATM's, POS and e-commerce accumulated USD 524 million last year. This is a USD 200 million increase from the year prior. Customer transactions have reached around USD 60 million in January 2026 alone.
- BML has been offering a monthly USD 3,000 limit to customers from 11th November 2025 onward who want to use their debit cards for seeking medical treatment overseas and for travel. A monthly limit of USD 1,000 has been granted for use by debit cards overseas via card machines. Credit card limits for ATM transactions were also increased in February.
According to Shareef, the limit would not exceed the specified amount for the few customers who have more than one credit card, when speaking on said customers being able to benefit from the limit compared to other customers.
"This is not deception. This is the establishment of a fair regulation. With a proper and suitable limit having been decided for the use of e-commerce personally and as a fair regulation has been determined around it, it is viable to not have a limit on personal cards in acquiring online products in bulk," said the MD.
During last night's ceremony, Shareef said that the card limits being low and the USD limits for TT's being low are some of the main complaints from the public. The debit card limit is USD 250, a card which began being provided by the bank in September 2020, with TT's only being at five percent.
"These decisions were made as the bank was having difficulties in acquiring USD, along with the drop in USD's position," said the MD.
Nevertheless, as it was not a situation that should be prolonged when looking at the USD required for the customer's needs, TT's and LC's, BML's board and management prioritized their efforts in finding a solution to the matter, said Shareef. The government and the Finance Ministry were a big help as well, stated the MD.
"This allowed the position of the USD to get better. It allowed the bank to increase the USD limit," stated Shareef.
"I would like to bring to attention that the President's decision to increase the limits for overseas debit card transactions by Maldivians came about after the government's aid in improving the bank's position in a short position in foreign exchange under a stable policy. I would like to thank the President for that opportunity."
The MD went on to say that the criteria for looking into how a company is run are their financial results and customer trust.
"After taxes, the bank received MVR 2.5 billion in net profit after aiding the various aforementioned projects, expansions and technological investments," said Shareef while referring to statistics.
With BML's balance sheet seeing such an increase, the bank's total assets have risen to MVR 55.8 billion.
