Senior Spokesperson at the President’s Office, Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu), has said that recent changes to dollar limits on Bank of Maldives (BML) debit cards are not linked to the government’s foreign debt repayments made last month.
Responding to a question during his weekly press briefing, Mundhu said BML Managing Director Mohamed Shareef had already explained the bank’s position and the reasons behind the measures during a separate press conference.
Last week, BML, in collaboration with Maldives Immigration, announced that the “Foreign Spend Limit” for POS and ATM transactions abroad would only be activated while customers are physically overseas.
The bank also introduced a limit of 30 e-commerce transactions per customer per month to address the misuse of Rufiyaa cards issued for business purposes on certain online shopping platforms.
During the briefing, comparisons were also drawn with previous major foreign debt repayments, including the USD 524.68 million Sukuk payment made in 2021 under the administration of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, as well as the repayment of the USD 400 million currency swap issued by India to the Maldives in 2024.
