A Forex Bill has been introduced in Parliament, proposing two options to deposit foreign currency earned through the tourism sector into Maldivian banks.
The bill was submitted by Inguraidhoo MP Ibrahim Falah and was prepared by the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) following public consultations.
The bill mandates that tourism businesses earning at least USD 15 million annually must deposit their foreign currency income in local bank accounts. For Category A resorts, the requirement is to exchange either USD 500 per tourist or 20 percent of their total monthly income.
Category B guesthouses must exchange either USD 25 per tourist or 20 percent of their monthly foreign exchange earnings.
Initially, the regulations targeted non-tourism entities earning foreign exchange equivalent to USD 20 million annually, requiring them to deposit at least 25 percent of their income into Maldivian banks. However, the threshold has now been reduced to USD 15 million. MMA noted that the bill offers businesses two exchange options, allowing them to choose their preferred method of compliance.
MMA estimates the new regulations could bring USD 750 million (MVR 11 billion) into the banking system annually. This follows a policy introduced last October, which requires the tourism sector to exchange dollars through Maldivian banks starting at the end of January. Forex requirements per tourist for resorts and guesthouses were initially implemented in October as part of this initiative.
The changes aim to stabilize foreign reserves, which dropped to USD 30 million last October which has been the lowest in recent history.
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