Changes introduced by bank of Maldives (BML) to foreign spending limits on debit cards are unrelated to the government’s recent foreign debt repayments, President’s Office Chief Spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu), has said.

Speaking at his weekly press briefing on Thursday, Mundhu said BML Managing Director Mohamed Shareef had already explained the reasons behind the policy changes.

“Do not make that inference with the loans we paid or the foreign exchange swap we cleared,” he said.

“There is no shock or difficulty to our cash flow or anything else. Therefore, the payments made by the government last month and the clearance of debts have no connection with BML.”

Last week, BML announced changes to foreign spending controls in collaboration with Maldives Immigration.

Under the revised measures, debit card foreign spending limits for POS transactions and ATM withdrawals abroad will only be activated while the cardholder is overseas. The bank said the move was intended to address cases where individuals travelling abroad carried and used cards belonging to others.

BML also imposed a monthly limit of 30 e-commerce transactions per customer after identifying cases where personal debit cards were being used extensively for business-related purchases on online platforms.

The government repaid USD 524.68 million (MVR 8 billion) last month for a sukuk issued in 2021 during the administration of former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

The state also repaid a USD 400 million currency swap facility obtained in 2024 after the current administration took office.