The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has proposed significant amendments to the Foreign Exchange Act and submitted them to the Attorney General’s Office for review. The most notable change among these proposals is the removal of the mandatory requirement for resorts to exchange USD 500 per tourist through the banking system. However, the existing policy for guesthouses, which mandates the exchange of USD 25 per tourist or 20% of their total foreign currency earnings, remains unchanged.
Furthermore, the MMA has decided to increase the revenue threshold for businesses outside the tourism sector that are required to exchange foreign currency. The threshold will be raised from USD 15 million to USD 25 million. According to the MMA, these adjustments aim to provide relief to businesses and address the practical challenges faced in enforcing the current regulations.
In conjunction with these changes, amendments have also been proposed to the National Payment System Act. These updates seek to mandate that all Point of Sale (POS) machines operated within the Maldives be integrated with local banks and to facilitate the establishment of a National Switch to monitor domestic transactions effectively. The primary objective of these legislative reforms is to strengthen the foreign exchange framework and ensure that foreign currency entering the country circulates efficiently within the formal banking system.
