The issue of black market foreign exchange cannot be resolved due to lack of evidence, says Ali Hashim, Governor of Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).
In a Parliament Committee hearing on Monday, Hashim stated that there is no evidence of dollars being traded at hiked prices on the black market according to MMA’s accounts, and that the police officers investigating such illegal activity also find it difficult to gather evidence.
“Finding proof is a challenge,” said Hashim. “The police also face difficulty in gathering any solid evidence, and so there is hardly any action that can legally be taken.”
Additionally, the Governor reiterated that pursuit work in relation to black market activity needs to be carried out by another organisation for them. However, he said that such a program requires a lot of consideration beforehand, which is why they have been holding it off thus far.
Deputy Governor Ahmed Imad added that selling dollars at a rate higher than the exchange band set by the central bank was a crime, and that work is being done to make necessary changes to regulatory laws in order to solve this issue.
