MDP condemns amendments criminalizing reporting of black-market dollar rates

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has condemned amendments approved by the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee to the Foreign Exchange Bill, which would criminalise reporting black-market dollar selling rates and impose fines of up to MVR 500,000.

In a statement, MDP said the amendment, though placed inside the Foreign Exchange Act, is “a direct attack on freedom of the press.” The party said journalists report the real rate at which Maldivians are already forced to buy dollars, and penalising them will not lower the price but will deprive the public of accurate information they are constitutionally entitled to receive.

MDP described the move as part of a broader pattern of efforts to silence independent media. The party said the current economic crisis is the government’s own making, noting that international financial institutions such as the World Bank and IMF have spent two years warning that Maldives is at high risk of debt distress.

Citing World Bank assessments, MDP said the government has repeatedly postponed essential reforms, including subsidy restructuring, capital-spending adjustments and state-owned enterprise reform. According to the party, public debt now stands near 130 percent of GDP and is projected to rise above 140 percent, while usable reserves cover less than a month of imports.

MDP warned that hiding the real exchange rate will not stop Maldivians from trading at it. Instead, it will push the market further underground and replace verified information with rumour, eroding confidence among the public, businesses and investors. The party added that since the government’s super-majority in Parliament has not held the administration accountable, the media remains the last meaningful check on government spending and waste.

MDP called on the government and its MPs to withdraw the amendments and uphold the constitutional guarantee of a free press. The party said the dollar shortage will ease only when the government confronts its underlying causes, reducing wasteful expenditure and implementing long-delayed economic reforms, rather than silencing journalists.