News Desk
The People’s Majlis today passed a high-stakes amendment to the Foreign Currency Act, legally obligating resorts and guesthouses to convert 40 percent of their monthly foreign currency earnings through local banks starting early next month.
The measure cleared the floor with 47 members voting in favor out of 59 present. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) stood firmly against the bill, with 12 members casting votes to reject it.
First submitted by Holhudhoo MP Abdulla Sathar Mohamed to raise the conversion baseline for top-tier foreign exchange earners, the critical detail forcing Category A businesses—primarily resorts—to exchange 40 percent of monthly FX revenues came through an amendment tabled by Funadhoo MP Mohamed Mamdhooh. Under the newly passed bill, the strict requirements take effect on the first of next month.
The push through Majlis comes despite heavy pushback from the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI). Tourism operators warned the government that locking up 40 percent of dollar revenue in local bank conversions is simply unsustainable given the heavy foreign currency burdens running standard resort operations.
“Resorts run on dollars,” MATI noted in a sharply worded statement responding to the proposal. The industry body pointed out that critical operating expenses—ranging from fuel supplies, foreign loan repayments, and rent to resort staff wages, service charges, and direct taxes like TGST, Green Tax, and Income Tax—all require direct foreign currency settlements.
Addressing recent allegations that certain resort operators were driving up black-market dollar rates through illegal currency dealings, MATI pushed back, stating it had no knowledge of such practices and maintains a strict policy asking all members to follow existing financial regulations.
MATI cautioned the government against slamming the entire sector over isolated probes into a handful of operators, calling it unfair to paint all resort owners as black-market actors while enforcing sweeping mandates that threaten broader industry stability.
