The Maldives is facing a difficult foreign exchange environment, with limited availability of US dollars increasingly affecting businesses, banks and migrant workers. For Bangladesh, however, the challenge has become an opportunity to demonstrate how modern diplomacy can combine worker protection, economic diplomacy and strategic bilateral engagement.
The issue is particularly important because Bangladesh is the largest destination for outward remittances from the Maldives. According to the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), Bangladesh received 72 percent of the total value of outward remittances, equivalent to more than US$112 million. The MMA has also credited the joint efforts of the Governments of Bangladesh and Maldives, along with awareness campaigns by the Bangladesh High Commission and NBL Money Transfer, with helping to encourage the use of formal remittance channels.
The current dollar shortage therefore has implications far beyond the banking sector. It directly affects the earnings of thousands of Bangladeshi workers and, potentially, the flow of remittances to Bangladesh.
The Maldives’ foreign-exchange challenge is not a Bangladesh-specific problem. It is part of wider macroeconomic pressures facing the country. The IMF has repeatedly identified foreign-exchange shortages, external vulnerabilities and pressures on reserves as important challenges for the Maldivian economy. Its 2026 assessment noted that the economy had shown resilience, particularly through tourism, but remained exposed to external pressures, higher import costs and geopolitical uncertainty.
The difficulty becomes particularly visible in the difference between the official and parallel foreign exchange markets. The official exchange rate remains around MVR 15-16 per US dollar, while the parallel market has reportedly offered substantially higher rates. For migrant workers earning in Rufiyaa, this difference can translate directly into lost income when they attempt to convert their salaries for remittance.
A worker may therefore face a situation in which the money earned through months of work is worth significantly less when converted into a remittable foreign currency. This is where the Bangladesh High Commission has stepped in.
Rather than treating the problem simply as a consular or remittance issue, the Bangladesh High Commission in Malé has approached it as a broader economic and migrant-worker protection challenge.
The High Commissioner has personally engaged senior management of commercial banks operating in the Maldives to understand the foreign-exchange situation from inside the banking system. The Mission has also held discussions with the Maldives Monetary Authority and senior members of the Maldivian Government.
The real challenge is the availability of foreign exchange liquidity. In practical terms, a new bank can create a better channel, but it cannot create US dollars that are not available in the market. This has led the High Commission to advocate solutions that address both sides of the problem: the financial system and the migrant worker.
The Bangladesh Government’s approach reflects a broader shift in the country’s labour diplomacy. For Bangladesh, migrant workers are not merely a source of remittance. They are an important part of the country’s international economic footprint.
The Government has therefore increasingly emphasised the protection of workers, expansion of skilled employment opportunities, regularisation of undocumented workers and strengthening of formal remittance channels.
The Mission has maintained continuous contact with Bangladeshi workers and employers and has encouraged employers, wherever legally and practically possible, to facilitate dollar-linked salary arrangements or assist employees in accessing foreign currency through authorised channels.
This is a significant departure from a narrow consular approach. It reflects the idea that protecting a migrant worker’s salary is as important as protecting the worker’s passport or employment contract.
One of the strongest elements of Bangladesh’s position is that it is not starting from zero. The Maldives already has a functioning formal remittance ecosystem, and NBL Money Transfer is part of that system. The MMA reports that NBL Money Transfer, together with other licensed providers, has helped facilitate formal remittance flows.
Indeed, the MMA’s data show how rapidly formal outward remittances have grown. In 2024, more than US$155 million in outward remittances were processed through non-bank payment service providers, with foreign nationals accounting for 92 percent of the value. Bangladesh alone represented 72 percent of the total.
This is an important achievement. It demonstrates that cooperation between the two countries can produce measurable results. The next step is to make that system more resilient when foreign exchange liquidity becomes constrained.
The current situation calls for cooperation rather than confrontation.
First: Bangladesh Bank-MMA cooperation: A technical dialogue between Bangladesh Bank and the Maldives Monetary Authority could examine mechanisms for more predictable settlement of legitimate Bangladeshi worker remittances. The two sides could also explore the feasibility of an MVR-to-BDT or other local-currency settlement mechanism. Such a system would require detailed technical assessment, but it could potentially reduce unnecessary dependence on multiple currency-conversion steps.
Second: protect formal migrant-worker remittances: During periods of foreign-exchange scarcity, the Maldivian authorities could examine whether legitimate migrant-worker remittances can receive more predictable access to available foreign-exchange liquidity. Such a mechanism would need to be transparent and consistent with the Maldives’ broader foreign-exchange policy.
Third: involve employers: Employers can become part of the solution by facilitating dollar-linked salaries or purchasing foreign currency for workers through authorised channels wherever permitted. This would help reduce the pressure on individual workers to enter the parallel market.
Fourth: strengthen Bangladesh’s banking presence: The Bangladesh Government and the High Commission have long recognised the importance of stronger banking connectivity between Bangladesh and the Maldives. A greater Bangladeshi banking presence could strengthen remittance services, trade finance and investment links. But the present crisis demonstrates an important lesson: banking presence and foreign exchange liquidity must be treated as two related but different issues.
Fifth: expand financial cooperation: The two governments could explore broader financial cooperation involving trade settlement, investment, financial technology and other mechanisms. Subject to detailed assessment by Bangladesh Bank and the Ministry of Finance, structured financing or a possible Line of Credit could also be examined where economically and strategically justified.
The foreign exchange issue has emerged at a time when Bangladesh is already dealing with complex labour-migration questions in the Maldives. The High Commission’s approach has been to combine quiet diplomacy with practical intervention – protecting workers while maintaining constructive relations with the Maldivian authorities.
That approach has increasingly positioned the Mission not merely as a representative of Bangladesh, but as an active institutional bridge between the Bangladeshi community and the Maldivian Government and financial system.
The current crisis may ultimately prove to be an important moment in Bangladesh-Maldives relations. The two countries already have a strong human and economic connection. Bangladeshi workers contribute substantially to the Maldivian economy, while their remittances support families and Bangladesh’s wider economy.
The MMA’s own figures show that Bangladesh is overwhelmingly the largest destination for outward remittances from the Maldives. The response should therefore go beyond solving today’s dollar shortage. The two countries could use the present challenge to build a stronger framework for financial connectivity, migrant-worker protection, trade settlement, banking cooperation and investment.
For Bangladesh, the High Commission’s proactive approach demonstrates a broader concept of modern diplomacy – one that connects foreign policy with the everyday economic interests of citizens abroad. For the Maldives, closer cooperation with Bangladesh could help preserve formal remittance channels while strengthening one of the country’s most important economic relationships.
The most encouraging aspect of the present situation is that Bangladesh has not approached the dollar shortage simply by demanding preferential treatment for its citizens. Instead, the High Commission has sought to understand the Maldivian problem, engage its financial institutions, consult the authorities and identify solutions that could benefit both countries.
That is precisely the kind of practical, partnership-based diplomacy that modern bilateral relations require. The immediate objective is clear: Bangladeshi workers should be able to send their legitimate earnings home safely, transparently and without suffering disproportionate losses from the foreign-exchange shortage.
The longer-term objective is even more important: to transform the present challenge into a stronger Bangladesh-Maldives financial and economic partnership.
The dollar shortage may be a Maldivian problem today, but the response is becoming a shared Bangladesh-Maldives agenda. And in that process, the proactive role of the Bangladesh Government and its High Commission in Malé demonstrates how worker welfare, economic diplomacy and national interest can be pursued together.
The writer is a Research Assistant at Ibn Haldun University
