President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has ratified the first amendment to the Foreign Currency Act, introducing new requirements for businesses earning foreign currency.
The bill was passed by the Parliament during the sitting held on 26 August, with 47 out of 59 members present voting in favor.
12 members of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) voted against the bill.
President Muizzu ratified the bill at a special ceremony held at the President’s Office today.
After ratifying the bill, President Muizzu said the requirement for resorts to exchange 40 percent of their foreign currency earnings would not create financial difficulties for resort operators.
He said the measure would not affect resorts’ ability to repay loans taken to build their properties, pay employee salaries or cover other expenses.
“I would like to say that we are certain that there will be no difficulty for resorts to exchange 40 percent,” he said.
Under the amendment, foreign currency may only be bought and sold at rates or within bands determined by the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA). Foreign currency exchange businesses must also operate under a license issued by MMA.
Amounts subject to the conversion requirement must be deposited into a foreign currency account maintained with an MMA-licensed bank and converted through the bank by the 28th day of the following month.
The amendment also makes it a criminal offence to sell, attempt to sell or advertise foreign currency at a rate exceeding the rate or band set by the MMA.
Individuals found guilty face fines ranging from MVR25,000 to MVR1 million, while legal entities face fines ranging from MVR100,000 to MVR5 million.
The amendment will come into force on 1 September 2026.
Before the amendment was passed, the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) stated that exchanging 40 percent of their USD revenue is not something they can do as resorts rely quite heavily on USD to provide services and other matters.
In a statement written by MATI, they said that exchanging 40 percent of their USD revenue is not a viable amount for the industry as resorts use USD to pay salaries, service charges, taxes (Tourism Goods and Services Tax (TGST), Green Tax, Withholding Tax and Income Tax), rent and loans that need to be paid in foreign currency.
