MMA Governor Says MIRA Must Audit Resorts, Not Just Shops, to Fix Dollar Shortage

Ahmed Munavvar, Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), stated today that the state’s tax authority, MIRA, must do more than just inspect shops and that resorts must also be audited to resolve the dollar issue. The Governor made these remarks during a budget committee meeting of the People's Majlis held today to study the state budget proposed by the government for the year 2027. Responding to a question raised by a member at that meeting, the Governor said that while tourism brings in 5.9 billion dollars annually, only 3.8 billion dollars enter the country's banking system. He stated that every dollar received by the country should enter the banking system and that this is currently being monitored heavily. Answering a question posed by Dr. Ahmed Shamsheeh, Member of the Hulhumalé South constituency regarding the difficulty in obtaining dollars, the Governor said that although collecting tax from business profits is the responsibility of MIRA, there are many resorts not paying this tax. Referencing figures shared by MIRA, Munavvar stated that out of 185 resorts, approximately 50 pay income tax. He added that either there is no profit or some kind of issues exist in those cases. Therefore, he stated that MIRA must not only focus on shops but also check whether the accounts in tourism are proper. Highlighting that if every dollar received by the country enters the banking system, it would be sufficient for the people's needs, Munavvar said that MMA will further intensify its efforts next year to ensure every dollar enters the banking system. "The monitoring must continue, right? If we do not monitor, what happens is that that dollar does not enter the country's banking system. If it does not enter the banking system, won't there be a cycle missing in the country?" the Governor said. Along with these measures, he said that resolving the dollar difficulty is not something that can be done in one day. Although some parties suggest that the way to resolve the difficulty in obtaining dollars is to let the dollar price change in the market (floating the exchange rate), he questioned why previous governments did not do so if it were possible to do. He also stated that the reason the dollar rate cannot be floated is because the price of the dollar in the market is currently determined by the black market.