Parliament committee passes foreign currency bill

The Public Accounts committee of the Maldivians Parliament passed a bill requiring US Dollars entering the country's tourism industry to be exchanged via local banks.

The bill passed the committee stage with the unanimous vote of all six members who attended the meeting, and minor changes. These include requiring the Tourism Ministry to provide Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) with information on tourism service providers at any time.

As per the bill, tourism services providers and any other business that generates USD 15 million in annual income must exchange US Dollars with local banks.

The bill gives category A resorts the option of exchanging USD 500 per tourist or 20 percent of their total monthly income, while category B, which are guest houses, will be required to exchange USD 25 per tourist, or 20 percent of the total monthly income.

The bill also requires tourism service providers to exchange dollars through local banks for October, November and December under the Foreign Exchange Regulations issued by the MMA last October.

President Muizzu had previously said that he hopes that the Parliament would finalise the foreign currency bill before the Parliament breaks for recess.

During the consideration stage of the bill, the Parliament met with Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), which has been very vocal about their concerns regarding the bill. However, the committee meeting was held behind closed doors at the request of MATI.