Maldives’ Foreign Currency Changes: What Businesses, Suppliers and Employees Need to Know

Businesses earning foreign currency in the Maldives face changes to how much they must exchange into rufiyaa, when they must complete those conversions and whether they can settle supplier bills in foreign currency. The revised rules also affect suppliers receiving those payments and people trading or advertising foreign currency.

The First Amendment to the Foreign Currency Act, ratified on 31 August 2026 and effective from 1 September, introduces different obligations depending on a business’s activities, revenue and ownership.

Which businesses and stakeholders are affected?

The changes directly concern tourism establishments, qualifying businesses outside tourism, businesses earning foreign currency and their suppliers, and money-changing operators.

Employees and shareholders also have an interest in understanding the changes, particularly whether existing permissions for foreign currency payments have been altered.

For businesses, the first step is to establish which category applies. Tourism establishments have their own conversion requirements, while qualifying businesses outside tourism are assessed against a separate annual foreign currency revenue threshold.

How much must resorts now convert?

Category A tourism establishments must convert 40 per cent of their monthly gross sales in foreign currency into rufiyaa through a bank licensed in the Maldives.

This category includes tourist resorts, integrated tourist resorts, private islands, resort hotels and other qualifying establishments registered under the Tourism Act.

Previously, these establishments could choose between converting USD 500 for each non-exempt tourist arrival and converting 20 per cent of monthly gross sales in foreign currency. The amendment removes the arrivals-based option and raises the sales-based requirement to 40 per cent.

For operators, conversion planning must therefore follow monthly sales rather than tourist numbers.

Do guesthouses and other Category B establishments also face the 40 per cent requirement?

Category B tourism establishments retain the option of converting USD 25 per non-exempt tourist arrival or 20 per cent of their monthly gross sales in foreign currency.

However, they are affected by the shorter conversion deadline. Retaining their existing calculation options does not preserve the previous timetable for completing the exchange.

What changes for businesses outside tourism?

The annual foreign currency revenue threshold for qualifying as a high-income entity rises from USD 15 million to USD 25 million. This category excludes sellers of tourism goods and services and financial institutions.

Qualifying entities generally must now convert 40 per cent of monthly gross sales in foreign currency, up from 20 per cent.

A separate concession applies where the qualifying entity’s shareholders are exclusively Maldivian. These businesses must convert 7 per cent of monthly gross sales in foreign currency.

The 7 per cent rate applies specifically to qualifying high-income entities with wholly Maldivian ownership. It is not a general rate available to every locally owned business or resort.

When must the monthly conversion be completed?

Tourism establishments in both categories and qualifying high-income entities must complete their monthly conversion obligations by the 28th day of the immediately following month.

Previously, the deadline was the 28th day of the third subsequent month.

This gives finance teams considerably less time between the relevant sales month and the conversion deadline. Businesses will need to reflect that shorter interval in their cash-flow forecasts and banking arrangements.

Can businesses still pay suppliers in foreign currency?

The automatic permission previously available to foreign currency-earning businesses for certain goods and services payments has changed.

Where a domestic transaction relies on that exception to the general requirement to transact in rufiyaa, prior approval from the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) is now required. This covers both the business making the foreign currency payment and the supplier collecting it.

The approval arrangements are to operate under the relevant MMA regulations. Businesses and suppliers should therefore review which transactions previously relied on the automatic exception and what approval requirements now apply.

Earning foreign currency alone no longer provides automatic permission to make these particular supplier payments in foreign currency.

Does the amendment require salaries and dividends to be paid in rufiyaa?

The amendment leaves unchanged the existing automatic exceptions relating to salary, dividend, shareholder and related-party payments by foreign currency-earning businesses.

It therefore does not itself introduce a blanket requirement to switch those payments to rufiyaa.

For employers and employees, the distinction matters: the new approval requirement for the specified goods and services transactions should not be confused with a change to the existing salary payment exception.

Must businesses notify the MMA about their bank accounts?

Yes. Businesses subject to the Act’s requirements to transfer or deposit monthly realised sales proceeds into local foreign currency accounts must notify the MMA of the accounts used to meet those obligations.

The notification must follow the manner determined by the MMA. The authority must also establish transitional periods for compliance through regulations.

Affected businesses should identify the relevant accounts and prepare the information needed for notification.

What if a business cannot meet its conversion obligation?

Businesses may apply to the MMA for concessions where meeting the statutory conversion requirement would leave insufficient foreign currency to meet qualifying obligations recognised under the Act or accepted by the authority.

The MMA may permit a lower conversion amount for a specified period or grant relief concerning the conversion deadline. These concessions require the authority’s approval.

The amendment also extends access to concessions to businesses with outstanding conversion obligations under the former Foreign Currency Regulation. This provides a route to seek relief for earlier obligations, rather than automatically cancelling them.

What are the rules on exchanging or advertising foreign currency?

Foreign currency must be bought and sold in accordance with the rates or bands determined and published by the MMA.

The amendment prohibits selling or attempting to sell foreign currency above the permitted rate or outside the permitted band. It also prohibits promoting or advertising purchases or sales at such rates.

The advertising provisions extend to digital platforms and other means of circulating information to promote those transactions. People and businesses advertising currency exchanges therefore face obligations even where an advertised transaction has not been completed.

What penalties can apply?

Selling or attempting to sell foreign currency at a prohibited rate carries a fine ranging from MVR 25,000 to MVR 1 million. Promoting or advertising prohibited-rate purchases or sales carries a fine ranging from MVR 25,000 to MVR 500,000.

Where a breach involves a legal entity or registered business, the prescribed fine ranges from MVR 100,000 to MVR 5 million.

Administrative action under the Act does not prevent criminal proceedings where the conduct also constitutes an offence under another applicable law. Procedures for imposing the fines must be set out in regulations.

What should money-changing businesses prepare for?

The amendment expressly requires money-changing businesses to obtain an MMA licence to establish and operate in the Maldives.

The licensing framework must be set out in regulations, including transitional provisions for businesses holding licences issued before the amendment took effect. Existing operators will therefore need to review how those provisions apply to their licences.

What should stakeholders do next?

Businesses should confirm their classification, update conversion calculations and payment calendars, identify the accounts used for compliance, and review supplier transactions that may require MMA approval.

The amendment requires the necessary new regulations and amendments to existing regulations within 30 days of its commencement, by 1 October 2026. These will provide operational detail on matters including approvals, account notifications, penalties and money-changing licences.

For affected businesses, compliance planning now needs to cover both the revised financial obligations and the procedures through which those obligations will be administered.