The Maldives Pension Administration Office (MPAO) has moved to clarify a point of public confusion: staff pension contributions must always be paid in Maldivian rufiyaa, regardless of whether an employee’s salary is paid in US dollars or another foreign currency.
The statement was issued after some parties suggested that pension contributions were being made in US dollars.
According to MPAO, the Maldives Retirement Pension Scheme operates entirely in rufiyaa. Under pension law, every employed person is required to take part in the scheme, contributing at least seven percent of their basic salary each month, matched by a further seven percent from their employer.
For workers paid in foreign currency, the office said their basic salary is first converted into rufiyaa, and the contribution is then calculated and paid in the local currency. The same applies to how the scheme handles the rest of its operations — investment returns are recorded in rufiyaa, and retirement payouts are disbursed in rufiyaa as well.
MPAO was clear that this system is not new and has no link to the Maldives Monetary Authority’s (MMA) ongoing foreign-currency regulations.
The clarification arrives at a time when foreign currency use in the Maldives remains high, accounting for more than 40 percent of transactions, according to the central bank. Dollars and other foreign currencies are widely used not just for salaries but for a range of everyday transactions across the country.
The MMA has said it wants to boost demand for the rufiyaa and shift a greater share of transactions toward the local currency by 2030, and is developing measures aimed at achieving that goal.
