Local held with $60,000 cash amid clampdown on foreign currency outflow

A departing passenger was held by authorities with $60,000 cash on Monday amid a new clampdown on foreign currency outflow.

A day after the homeland security ministry had announced tightened regulation on the declaration of cash upon departure from the island nation, a local was held at the Velanaa International Airport with $60,000 in cash.

Departing passengers are required to declare cash equivalent or above $10,000. 

Homeland security minister Ali Ihusaan however, told reporters on Sunday that the regulation on cash declaration had been rather weak.

"...earlier when a person carrying $10,000 or more just needs to say that I'm taking this much dollars out of the country. That was considered as a declaration," Ihussan said.

However, the minister noted that there were internationally recognized norms to regulate foreign currency outflow which Maldives will follow from now.

According to Ihusaan, departing passengers carrying that much cash would now be required to provide proof of funds. 

This will ensure the country to limit unchecked foreign currency outflow, he added.

However, the new clampdown on foreign currency outflows has sparked criticism with many saying that locals should be exempt from the tightened regulation.

Former opposition MDP chairperson Ibrahim Ismail wrote on Facebook that locals should not be forced to provide proof of funds when leaving the country.

""Every time a Maldivian citizen leaves the country, he does not have to tell the government how he earned his income. It is a fundamental right to leave wherever he wants without any interference from the government," Ibrahim who chaired the committee that drafted the current constitution said.

According to him, the government should only monitor foreign currency inflows and how it is circulated in the country.

However, without any legal backing, he insisted that the government cannot enforce a new regulation.