Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has revealed it sold USD 633.9 million in 2020.
According to the annual report of MMA, the central bank sold USD 633.9 million, which was an increase of 1% when compared to 2019. Breaking down the USD sales, USD 392.8 million was sold to state-owned enterprises (SOEs), comprising of 62% of the total USD sales. In annual terms, however, sales to the SOEs represented a decline of 2% when compared to 2019.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MMA increased the USD allocation for commercial banks on multiple occasions to cater for essential imports such as food and medicine. The total USD sales to the commercial banks amounted to USD 241.1 million, which is an increment of 6% when compared to 2019. This included USD 171 million as part of the routine weekly allocations, as well as USD 14.1 million allocation to meet USD requirements of locals travelling abroad for medical care and education.
In the report, MMA noted similar to the previous years, it continued foreign exchange intervention to maintain the exchange rate stability. In this regard, MMA increased the total USD sales to the market to address the USD supply shortage in the domestic foreign exchange market due to the COVID-19 pandemic.