Bank of Maldives (BML) has decided to make arrangements for overseas parties to pay, through BML payment gateway, for goods sold and services provided by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
BML, in collaboration with the Economic Ministry and the Business Center Corporation (BCC), is working to begin offering the service from next month. Under the service, SMEs supplying goods and services in the international market will receive payments from overseas parties in US dollars.
BML’s latest announcement is in line with President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s announcement of the same on Saturday evening.
Speaking at the awards ceremony of “Maldives Expo 2026”, held last night at Barceló Nasandhura, the President outlined the concessions and opportunities for SMEs that the government has decided to introduce over the next three months. These include:
- Dollar payments through the BML gateway from November 1: businesses trading anywhere in the world will be able to receive payments in dollars through the BML gateway, and these funds may be used, through remittance, to purchase goods and services from abroad.
- SME tax-free zones from January 1, 2027: special tax-free zones for the SME sector will be established, beginning in Addu as a three-year pilot project. Within these zones, no rent will be charged on government-allocated land, business profit tax (BPT) and income tax will be waived, and quota concessions will be granted, among other measures.
- Tax offsetting and a revised GST threshold: taxes owed by SMEs to the government will be deducted from sums the government owes those businesses, and the GST regulation threshold will be raised from MVR 1 million to MVR 1.5 million from January 1, 2027.
- Abolition of import duty on raw materials from January: import duty on raw materials imported by SMEs will be removed. The President said work is under way on the legal amendments needed to implement this.
- Second phase of the young entrepreneurs’ loan scheme: the second phase of the loan scheme for young entrepreneurs will be launched in November.