Malé, Maldives – Maldives Monetary Authority’s statistics has shown that bank deposits declined by 10 percent in the third quarter of this year.
According to the Monetary Authority of Maldives (MMA)’s quarterly economic bulletin for the third quarter of this year, foreign currency deposits accounted for 76 per cent of the decline.
While the dollar is the largest foreign currency deposited in Maldivian banks, MMA said the decline in bank deposits was likely due to higher import costs.
Deposits in banks stood at MVR 52.2 billion in the third quarter of this year.
Statistics show that the amount of loans issued by banks has increased. In the third quarter, loans stood at MVR 32.5 billion, an increase of two per cent.
Banks’ pre-tax profits also increased with a profit of MVR 3.3 billion for the third quarter. This is a two percent increase over the same period last year.