The Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology has introduced amendments to regulations governing the employment of expatriate workers, requiring all salaries and other contractual payments to be deposited directly into bank accounts held in the employees' names.

The revised regulations will take effect one month after their publication in the Government Gazette.

Under the new requirements, employers must deposit salaries, allowances, and other payments owed under employment contracts into accounts opened in the names of expatriate employees at financial institutions registered with or licensed by the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

The requirement for expatriate workers to receive their salaries through bank accounts was previously introduced under amendments to the Employment Act in 2016.

Employers who failed to comply were subject to penalties.

However, enforcement was later suspended as a large number of undocumented foreign workers were unable to meet the requirements needed to open bank accounts.

The original policy was also intended to support the collection of Remittance Tax on money transferred overseas by foreign workers.

The government has now reinstated and strengthened the requirement following efforts to regularize a significant number of expatriates living and working in the Maldives.

The move could also bring a larger share of expatriate financial transactions into the formal banking system.

Authorities have noted that some foreign workers receive payments in U.S. Dollars, while others paid in Maldivian Rufiyaa purchase foreign currency through informal channels, contributing to pressure on the country's foreign exchange market.