A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
In the Maldives from 1st of August 2020, cigarettes and bidi will be charged a specific duty of 3 Rufiyaa per stick and ad valorem rate of 25% on the price (FOB). It was also revealed that 3% of duty revenue from cigarettes and tobacco products will go to public health fund to carry out […]
Health Emergency Operation Center (HEOC) has announced a restriction on takeaway and delivery services from café, restaurants or any eatery to the ordered destination, as a safety measure for combatting the severe spread of COVID-19 in the greater Male’ area. According to Aishath Saamiya, Health Ministry’s Deputy Director-General of Policy Planning and International Health, the […]
Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) stated that 20% of the businesses operating in the tourism sector continued its operations without dismissing employees or cutting wages due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Bank of Maldives (BML) has published its business survey report for the second quarter (Q2) of 2020 revealing that the employment index had declined to -74. […]
The past few days, the public has raised their concerns regarding their electricity bills that have skyrocketed. People are questioning the high amounts written on their bill, confused as to why it’s so high. This issue is significant during a time the public is dealing with low income as a result of the low economic […]
The Managing Director of MIFCO, Ismail Fauzy has revealed that 21,000 tonnes of fish have been bought from fishermen so far in 2020. This is 44% of the fish bought in 2019 by MIFCO, which totalled to 48,000 tonnes. Ismail Fauzy, who stated that fishing in the country is going well similar to 2019, informed […]
In a noteworthy move, the Ministry of Tourism has today reduced significantly the penalty payable in respect of delayed lease rent payments. This policy change is reflected in the 4th Amendment to the Tourist Resorts, Tourist Hotels, Tourist Guesthouses (Payment of Lease Rent) Regulations. The thrust of the amendment is that it has altered the penalty […]
Ooredoo reveals that the telecommunication company has generated a profit of MVR 80 million in the second quarter of 2020. According to the quarterly statistics published by Ooredoo, the company has generated a total of MVR 409.6 million in Q2 2020. Ooredoo stated that the company’s total income has shown a significant decrease this year […]
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has declared that government offices are to remain closed from 4th to 6th August 2020, as a precautionary measure against the further spread of COVID-19. The President encouraged those who are able to work from home to do so and to provide services to the public through online means. The decision […]
The island nation of Maldives reopened its borders to international tourists on 15th July 2020, after 3 months of a halt in tourism. Within 17 days of reopening borders, the popular destination received over 1700 tourists from around the world. In fact, on the very first day itself, the Maldives welcomed a total of 80 […]