A shocking news has come from Maldives.
It is being said that there has been an attempt to overthrow President Mohammed Muizzu’s government. Maldives police has issued a statement claiming this.
Police said the Bank of Maldives’ decision to limit the availability of dollars for credit cards was part of a coup plot.
Police are investigating the alleged coup, in which opposition parties and hundreds of Twitter bots are accused of being involved.
According to the police statement, the conspiracy was hatched against the administration of President Muizzu. The statement also said that the National Bank attempted to undermine the President’s administration.
Let us tell you that the Bank of Maldives is a government bank in which the government has a 62% stake. The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has started investigating these allegations.
What is the whole matter?
The Bank of Maldives (BML) had suspended foreign transactions for debit and credit cards linked to accounts denominated in Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR).
This means that Maldivians cannot transact in dollars or other foreign currency using their debit and credit cards.
For example, if earlier customers could make purchases abroad in dollars without any limit, now the bank has put a limit on that amount, so customers can spend dollars only up to a certain limit.
The Maldives Police said in a statement that the decision announced by the state-owned Bank of Maldives shocked many. But at the same time the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) was holding a press conference on the financial situation of the government.
At the same time, hundreds of “bot accounts” were also active on social media, calling on citizens to take to the streets to overthrow the government, police said.
According to a report by Republic of Maldives, police said they had reason to believe that the opposition’s actions following the bank’s decision were an attempt to overthrow the government.
Police have accused the opposition MDP of trying to overthrow the government. The board of directors of the Bank of Maldives took the decision to ban foreign transactions on Saturday and announced it publicly on Sunday.
However, political experts believe that the Muizzu administration had enough time to talk to the bank’s board of directors. If they wanted, they could have prevented the bank’s decision from becoming public.
The bank withdrew its decision to suspend allowing foreign transactions on its debit and credit cards after facing pressure from the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA). In a statement issued on Sunday, the bank said, “The change in card limits for foreign transactions announced on August 25, 2024 has been withdrawn based on the direction of our regulator, the Maldives Monetary Authority.”
Earlier on Sunday, the bank suspended foreign transactions for all existing and new debit and credit cards linked to accounts denominated in Maldivian rufiyaa.
Additionally, the bank also reduced the monthly foreign transaction limit for existing Standard and Gold credit cards to USD 100.
According to the report, this sudden change in policy has sparked widespread concerns, including an increase in the black market rate for the dollar and growing fears of inflation and economic instability.
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