Majority Leader of the Parliament Ibrahim Falah stated today that changes still need to be brought to the Foreign Exchange Act to solve the issue of the dollar black market formed in the Maldives.

The report by the Public Accounts Committee on its review and decision regarding the bill submitted by the government to amend the Foreign Exchange Act, which mandates the deposit and exchange of foreign currency revenues in Maldivian banks, was presented at today's sitting of parliament.

In the debate during today's sitting on the report formulated by the Public Accounts Committee, which decided to pass the bill as it stands, Falah stated that all resorts must exchange currency as mandated by the Foreign Exchange Act, adding that relevant authorities must take action if this is not done.

"If there are a hundred resorts, and 60 resorts exchange currency while the remaining 40 resorts do not, action must be taken. Our government, especially our President, is working continuously to lower the price of the dollar. Therefore, I believe that amendments still need to be brought to this Foreign Exchange Act," said Falah, MP for the Inguraidhoo constituency.

The bill submitted by Holhudhoo constituency MP Abdulla Sattar Mohamed on behalf of the government to amend the Foreign Exchange Act proposed raising the threshold for business categories required to exchange foreign currency. Under the current law, businesses earning more than USD 15 million annually are required to exchange currency.

However, the bill currently submitted proposes designating that businesses earning USD 25 million annually must exchange currency.

Since the debate on the committee's report regarding the review of the bill did not conclude today, the parliamentary floor did not reach a final decision on the bill today.