Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef stated tonight that the legal amendment mandating businesses generating foreign currency revenue to convert 40 percent of their total monthly income into Rufiyaa through local banks is a policy maintained by the government in the public interest.

Speaking on a program broadcast by "MMTV," the Vice President said that President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu always prioritizes facilitating measures that benefit the public, and that his responsibility is to safeguard the public interest.

According to the Vice President, the policy requiring dollar conversions at banks was a topic discussed by all previous leaders of the Maldives and had been addressed at various levels across different committees of the People's Majlis. However, Hussain Mohamed Latheef noted that he did not know why no leader had dared to address it publicly or why they hesitated.

"He made that decision based on a robust and farsighted policy to put an end to the non-availability and non-circulation of dollars in the nation's economy. Therefore, the benefits to the public resulting from this policy are numerous. However, there may be a dissatisfied group within this, simply because their own benefits might be somewhat reduced," the Vice President said.

The Vice President stated that businesses will also flourish only when the country functions as a nation and maintains its independence. Therefore, the President is moving forward along that path, and Hussain described him as a patriotic leader.

He stated that the work to build the Maldives must begin anew. Economically as well, the nation had been driven to the point of bankruptcy by the time this government assumed office, he said.

He said that MDP must take responsibility for pushing the nation into this state, and that the current dollar situation reached this point due to money printing by the MDP government. He also noted that the MDP government failed at the time to realize that they should not act in that manner and that they would have to face today's reality.

According to the Vice President, even though MDP is currently speaking against the dollar conversion policy, that government had also carried things forward up to the point of implementation.

"However, they pulled back. Why should that happen? The public chooses a leader to serve the public. That is the President's difference. To serve the public, he will not step back; he will move forward," the Vice President said.

The parliament passed this legal amendment despite the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) stating that converting 40 percent of dollar revenue is unsustainable, given the heavy reliance on dollars for services and other operational needs at resorts.

In a statement released by the association, MATI noted that resorts incur significant expenditures in dollars, including fuel, salaries, service charges, taxes (TGST, Green Tax, Withholding Tax, and Income Tax), lease rents, and foreign currency debt service, making a 40 percent conversion rate un-viable for the industry to bear.