SBI limits monthly remittance for Indian expats to USD 150 amid USD crunch

The State Bank of India (SBI) branch in the Male’ has imposed a monthly remittance limit of USD 150 for Indian nationals working in the Maldives.

The SBI has notified its customers that the new limit will take effect on October 25.

The bank cited the low inflow of foreign exchange as the reason for the decision.

“As the inflow of foreign exchange to SBI remains very low, we are unable to sustain the current salary remittance limits provided to Indian expatriates,” reads a pop-up announcement on SBI’s website on Thursday.

The SBI said that the monthly MVR-INR remittances limit is being temporarily reduced to USD 150 (MVR 2,313) per account holder.

The bank also announced the temporary discontinuation of ATM withdrawals and ECOM/POS usage from MVR cards outside the Maldives.

The SBI apologized for the inconvenience and provided assurance that normal limits will be restored as soon as the foreign exchange availability improves.

“Please be assured that we are closely monitoring the situation and will review these limits periodically. Our endeavor is to restore normal limits as soon as the foreign exchange availability improves,” reads the announcement. “We sincerely appreciate your understanding and continued cooperation during these challenging times.”

The move is expected to affect thousands of Indian nationals who work in the Maldives.

It also comes as the Maldives struggles under the weight of staggering external debt obligations, which has forced the central bank to tighten control over foreign exchange, including mandating that banks operating in the country to exchange 90 percent of the USD that goes into the banks with the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), a portion of which is sold back to banks.

The shortage of USD has pushed the exchange rate in the black market above MVR 20.