Govt admits failure to raise card dollar limit
On the eve of the deadline, finance ministry in a statement admitted that there were obstacles to implementing the cabinet's decision at this time.
Summary
On the eve of the deadline, finance ministry in a statement admitted that there were obstacles to implementing the cabinet's decision at this time.
The government would not be able to raise monthly dollar limit on Bank of Maldives (BML) debit and credit cards for local students studying abroad, Finance ministry admitted late Wednesday.
Cabinet last month had announced the decision to increase the monthly limit of banking cards from USD750 to USD1,200 with effect from Thursday.
But it had emerged that the country's national bank BML was reluctant to implement the move due to limited foreign currency availability and the weeks of negotiations with the government had failed to yield an arrangement.
On the eve of the deadline, finance ministry in a statement admitted that there were obstacles to implementing the cabinet's decision at this time.
The ministry was now working with the central bank to identify solutions to the limited access and retain foreign currency reserves within local banks, the statement said.
In the meantime, according to the statement, the higher education ministry is now in process of accumulating a database of local students studying abroad.
The government had made an attempt to strong-arm BML into implementing its decision by firing as many as five of its directors on the bank's board.
However, most of the directors have since been reinstated.
