Maldives central bank announced that its foreign exchange reserve had dropped by 11 percent in June due to increased dollar sales from banks and state run companies to compensate for the recent decline in US Dollar influx to the archipelago.
Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) stated in its monthly economic review that its foreign exchange reserve had dropped to USD 209.4 million in June compared to last year. However, the reserve had increased by one percent from May.
In general, MMA sells its foreign exchange US dollars to banks, State Trading Organisation (STO) for the importation of oil and pharmaceuticals, and to various other state run companies for their business transactions.
Statistics show that MMA’s official reserve stood at USD 622.6 million by the end of June, which is a decrease of 13 percent from last year.
The main cause behind the enduing low influx of US Dollars to the Maldives is the decrease in Tourism Goods and Services Tax (T-GST) and Green Tax due to the low number of visitors to the archipelago recently.
Sign In