Nasheed demands that govt drive down USD rate to MVR 19 in 10 days

Former president Mohamed Nasheed, chairperson of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), has demanded that the incumbent administration drive down the US dollar exchange rate in the Maldives’ parallel market to MVR 19 within 10 days, and further down to MVR 17 in a month’s time.

The MDP plans to hold a protest in Male’ City on Thursday night under the banner ‘Dhathivejje’ over the soaring prices of basic commodities.

At a press conference on Wednesday morning, Nasheed said that the MDP will be voicing demands during its upcoming protest.

“We are asking the government to drive down the dollar rate to MVR 19 within 10 days, and to MVR 17 within a month. This MVR 17 was the rate back in January 2024, when the incumbent administration took office. This is our demand,” he said.

Nasheed said that the economic measures that the government needs to implement in order to drive down the USD rate was clear, but that they were just standing by as the rate soars and drives up prices.

“We hope the government will heed our demands,” he said.

The demands come after Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed recently stated that the black-market USD rate hike was driven mostly by speculation. He accused some media outlets of deliberately publishing headlines that induce panic and spreading fake news in order to manipulate the market.

The USD exchange rate in the black market rose to a record high of MVR 22 this week.

Demand for dollars from the black market has skyrocketed due to the scarcity of foreign currency within the formal banking system for imports, coupled with the foreign currency required to meet Maldives’ staggering external debt obligations.

The rising value of the dollar poses huge challenges for importers, driving up prices of goods in the Maldivian market.