Deputy Speaker Nazim calls for locals to be appointed to senior positions at BML

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim has called for the appointment of locals to senior positions at Bank of Maldives (BML).

In today's extraordinary parliament sitting, where MPs debated on an amendment to the Companies Act, Nazim said that most of the senior officials of the bank had not been in the country when the decision was announced last month to disallow foreign transactions on cards linked to Maldivian Rufiya linked accounts.

Nazim said that at the time of the decision, foreigners serving in the post of Credit Control Manager, Operations Director and Risk Manager at the bank had been out of the country, but continued to take USD 15,000 as monthly pay.

"A salary of USD 15,000 is not a small amount. We need to look into appointing Maldivians to these posts," Nazim said.

Nazim warned that if the 'Maldivians' Bank' continues to be run in this way without Maldivians having control over it, then even more serious issues will come to light in the future.

He called on the Parliament, the Ministry of Finance and Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB) to consider ways in which companies in which the government holds shares can be operated more effectively.