Maldives eyes India’s RuPay service 'to bolster the Maldivian Rufiyaa', launch soon

Maldives will soon launch India’s RuPay service “to bolster the Maldivian Rufiyaa”, a senior minister of the Maldives said. 

Minister of Economic Development and Trade Mohamed Saeed spoke about the upcoming launch of India’s RuPay while announcing how both India and China have agreed to use local currency in bilateral trade. 

“The upcoming launch of India’s RuPay service is anticipated to further bolster the Maldivian rufiyaa (MVR),” Saeed told state-run PSM News. 

However, there has been no announcement of any date for the launch. 

He also emphasised that “addressing the dollar issue and reinforcing the MVR is a top priority for the current administration. 

During the official visit of the then President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to India in August 2022, a India-Maldives joint statement said, “The two leaders welcomed the ongoing work to operationalise the usage of RuPay Cards in Maldives and agreed to consider further measures to boost bilateral travel and tourism and economic inter-linkages.” 

India and China have agreed to cooperate in efforts to pay for imports in their respective currencies instead of US dollars, Maldives said on May 22.  

Maldives imports goods worth $780 million from India and $720 million from China, as per the minister who had said in April that Maldives was discussing payments for imports in rufiyaa with India and China.  

“We are negotiating with both sides to make arrangements for us so that, for example, for imports from China, the shipping company can bring the invoice and the payment can be settled by converting Maldivian Rufiyaa to their local currency through the banks, instead of US dollar,” Saeed said. 

RuPay, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is India's first global card payment network and is widely accepted at ATMs, POS devices, and e-commerce websites across the country. 

Over the last few years, multiple banks and payment companies from across various countries have partnered with NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), the international arm of NPCI, to accept UPI and RuPay in one form or the other.