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Maldives Currency and Banking
The Maldivian unit of currency is the rufiyaa
(Rf--see Glossary).
Introduced in 1981, the rufiyaa replaced the
Maldivian
rupee. The rufiyaa is divided into 100 laari. The January
1994
dollar exchange rate was US$1 = Rf11.1 rufiyaa. The
rufiyaa has
been steadily declining in value against the dollar. The
1993
estimated inflation rate in consumer prices was 15
percent.
Established in 1981, the Maldives Monetary Authority
was the
nation's first central bank. In 1974 the first bank
established
in Maldives was a branch of the State Bank of India. A
branch of
the Habib Bank of Pakistan was established in 1976 and the
Bank
of Ceylon also opened two branches. The first commercial
bank
established in Maldives was the Bank of Maldives, Limited.
It
opened in 1982 as a joint venture between the government
and the
International Finance Investment and Credit Bank of
Bangladesh;
by 1993 it was 100 percent state-owned.
Data as of August 1994
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