Fishing Bounty, Pricey Limes, Stalled Resorts

Thursday, April 7

The central bank decided to impose limits of MVR50,000 and US$3,000 for withdrawing money from cheques with effect in 2023 as part of a plan to reduce the use of cheques and encourage digital banking. A fee will also be charged and the clearance period will be increased to 10 days. The number of cheques processed by banks has fallen 60% over the past five years from 1.86 million in 2017 to about 700,000 last year.

Thursday, April 7

Wednesday, April 6

With an unusually bountiful fishing season in the southern atolls, the fish catch exceeded the freezing capacity of the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company’s purchasing boats and centres. MIFCO’s freezing capacity in the south is 420 tonnes a day but 770 tonnes arrived on Monday followed by 620 tonnes on Tuesday.

As it was still in the process of weighing fish from boats that queued on Tuesday, MIFCO announced that it could only buy five tonnes per vessel from boats that joined the queue on Wednesday. But boats that have been issued queue tokens from the Koodoo and Addu fisheries complexes will be exempt from the controls. The Jazeera 102 is due to rejoin the southern fleet on Thursday morning after unloading catch from the south to the Felivaru cannery in the northern Lhaviyani atoll, MIFCO said. The new refrigerated cargo ship has a capacity of purchasing 100 tonnes per day. Carrier ships have also been continuously loading for export and clearing storage space, it added.

Boats in the south have been catching 12 tonnes on average with larger boats catching between 25 to 60 tonnes. Some large boats in the south have reportedly stopped fishing until MIFCO removes the limit. The state-owned company has been under fire over its failure to increase capacity in preparation for the annual high-volume fishing season.

Wednesday, April 6

New rules have been enacted to blacklist contractors that are culpable for long delays in completing projects awarded by the government, the minister of planning and infrastructure informed parliament. The minister was responding to a question from a lawmaker about SJ Construction’s failure to establish a sewerage system in Raa Innamaadhoo four years after work started.

Tuesday, April 5

The finance ministry invited bids to build 30-bed hospitals on seven islands. The government has applied for financing from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) and intends to earmark part of the funds for the construction of the new hospitals, according to the ministry.

Tuesday, April 5

The State Trading Organisation’s sale of limes for MVR45 (US$3) per kilo failed to bring down prices at the market, which stood between MVR120 to MVR150 during the first week of Ramadan. STO’s Agribusiness Centre reportedly ran out of limes within minutes. But the STO People’s Choice Supermarket continued to sell with a limit of one kilo per customer.

Food prices usually soar due to high demand during the fasting month. The price of chillis from the farming island of Kadoodhoo has reportedly doubled from MVR300 per kilo before Ramadan.

Monday, April 4

Construction remains stalled on 83 islands leased for resort development, Tourism Minister Dr Abdulla Mausoom revealed in parliament, urging owners to transfer leases to investors capable of completing the hotels. The main obstacle is difficulty securing financing, he explained.

A new three-year deadline was imposed when lease agreements were recently revised for 75 islands and a fee charged by the government for the sale or transfer of leaseholder rights of resorts under development has been slashed from US$100,000 to US$10,000, he noted.

Some 13 parties submitted 18 proposals for nine islands put up for bidding last year, he said.  

Tourist arrivals from Russia – formerly the top market this year – have declined by 70% since the start of the war in Ukraine, the minister informed lawmakers.

Monday, April 4

Sunday, April 3

The transport ministry set 9 am to 4:30 pm and 8:00 pm to 6:00 am as the new hours for businesses to transport and unload goods within Malé during Ramadan.

Sunday, April 3