Shahid and Irufan nominated for BML’s board

The government has nominated two people to the board of the Bank of Maldives (BML); Mohamed Shahid and Ali Irufan.

The national bank confirmed receiving the nominations in an announcement on Tuesday.

Shahid is the former Chief Financial Officer at the Maldives Pension Administration Office. He also served in top positions in various departments at the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA).

The government’s other nominee, Irufan, is the Director of the Finance Ministry’s Public Finance Modernization and Reform Project. He also served in various positions in the financial sector.

The BML is scheduled to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting on September 21 to approve changes to the bank’s board.

The changes come after the BML drew the government’s ire after it suspended foreign transactions on MVR cards on August 25. But the bank reversed the decision within hours, a move it said was based on instructions from the central bank, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

Government official have accused the opposition of being behind the card limit changes, terming it as an attempt to stage a “financial coup.”