Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed has stated that local currency settlements with India and China will help to some extent in resolving the issue of high dollar rates.

Responding to a question by MDA's Velidhoo constituency member Mohamed Abbas in today's session of the People's Majlis regarding the government's policy to lower the dollar rate, the Minister said that the high dollar rate is an issue of concern for many citizens and businesses.

Highlighting the government's efforts to lower the dollar rate, the Minister said that the positive results of the legal changes made by this government, requiring businesses to convert a certain amount of dollars through banks, are now visible.

"It's not an ordinary thing that this government has done something that was never done before, requiring the conversion of a certain amount of dollars. The positive results of this are already visible. The card limits are being increased periodically, the amount of foreign currency paid by banks for TT is being increased periodically, and many such things are being done," he said.

The Minister also mentioned the local currency settlements that the Maldives is working on with India and China.

"The government is working on many initiatives with India and China, we are working on establishing local currency settlement systems. The Maldives trades with these two countries for close to two billion dollars when combined. We are arranging ways to trade with these two countries in their currencies. If this starts in the near future, it will provide some relief to the dollar issue," Saeed said.