Speaking at the press conference held today (25th March) President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has assured that the Maldives will not experience dollar shortage for the next 3 months.
The tourism industry has experienced an immediate fall due to the spread of COVID-19, and this has caused rumours of a sudden rise in the market value of the dollar.
According to local businessmen, while tourist arrivals to the country fall, it has caused the supply of dollars to fall in the market.
However, the president has announced that there will not be a shortage of the supply of dollars in the market for the next 3 months.
He said that the government’s mindset was on obtaining loans for the moment and noted that the Maldives had a currency swap agreement with the Reserve Bank of India worth USD 450. An amount that is sufficient for a few months.
The President noted that this was not the time to plan for the long-run. This was the time to take action based on the current circumstances.
The fixed rate of the dollar in the Maldives is MVR15.24. However, in the black market dollar prices have always been above the fixed rate.
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