Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has decided to set a limit of MVR 50,000 or US$ 3,000 for all cheque transactions in a series of strategic actions announced today to phase out cheque transactions by 2024.
In a press conference held today by MMA, the authority announced that they have formulated an action plan to phase out cheque transactions by 2024. The action plan involves a series of strategic actions to limit the use of cheques, according to MMA’s Assistant Executive Director Hawwa Latheef.
One of the main actions MMA has decided to take is to set a limit of MVR 50,000 or US$ 3,000 for all cheque transactions. Moreover, the cheque processing window will be extended to 10 days and an additional transaction fee will be imposed as well.
Cheque transactions have been reduced by 60 percent within the past five years. In 2017, 1.86 million cheques were processed while this figure was dramatically reduced in 2021 to just 700,000.
