A man withdraws USD notes from a dollar ATM in the capital Male. MIHAARU PHOTO/NISHAN ALI
Maldives’ central bank refuted rumours of plans to increase the US Dollar value in the Maldives on Wednesday.
In response to an inquiry by Mihaaru regarding the circulating talk that Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) will increase the exchange rate for US Dollar to Maldivian Rufiyaa, MMA’s spokesperson Mansoor Zubair insisted the rumours were false and urged the public to refrain from spreading such speculations.
The last change to the US Dollar exchange rate was under former president Mohamed Nasheed’s regime, which had raised the previous rate from MVR 12.75 per Dollar to a band between MVR 10 – 15.42. The change was brought about under the then government’s economic development programme based on the counsel of International Monetary Fund (IMF).
However, the US Dollar has not dropped since, as projected by the government then.
Rumours of the US Dollar rising has arisen at a time when the Maldives’ official bank reserves are increasingly low. According to MMA’s statistics, the reserves had dropped to USD 186.1 million last month, which is a monthly decrease of 10 percent and a 15 percent decrease from last year.