The amount of money sent out of the Maldives through Bank of Maldives (BML) reached US$2.86 billion by the end of the third quarter of this year.
According to BML, the money was sent through more than 373,600 remittance transactions. During the same period, the bank provided US$722 million to customers, almost equal to the US$733 million it provided in the whole of 2025. BML said US$2.96 billion entered the bank through remittances and card settlements in the first nine months of the year.
Of the foreign currency BML released in the first nine months, US$336 million went to card transactions, with 62 percent, or US$208 million, spent on e-commerce. A further US$224 million was released for telegraphic transfers (TT), US$86 million as cash for travel, US$40 million for education and US$33 million for health purposes.
BML noted that the rising cost of sourcing dollars on the global market and growing demand for dollars in the local market pose a major challenge to its foreign currency resources. The bank said that in September, when the new academic year begins for students studying abroad, it had to release twice the usual monthly amount for education, at US$8.2 million. To manage these challenges, the bank is working to increase foreign currency deposits and secure long-term funding.
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