President Muizzu's adviser on tourism, Mohamed Khaleel, has stepped down.

He resigned soon after Parliament approved a foreign exchange bill on Wednesday that prohibits the airing of black-market dollar rates, forbids foreign currency sales exceeding the MMA-established rate, and mandates that resorts deposit 40 percent of their dollar income into local banks.

The legislation, presented by PNC MP Abdul Sattar Mohamed for the government, originally mandated that resorts pay 20 percent of their income at USD 500 per visitor. Following the committee's review and submission of the bill to Parliament, it was returned for additional amendments.

The amendment arrives during a period when numerous individuals in the tourism industry have raised worries about the bill.

MMA Governor Ahmed Munawar announced the reforms to enhance the Maldives’ foreign exchange system. The Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) lacked representation for adequate consultation in the committee phase.

In a statement, MATI announced that its executive board was called to the President’s Office on Tuesday for an urgent meeting involving cabinet ministers and high-ranking government officials. In the meeting, the government announced that inquiries had shown certain resort operators participated in illicit foreign currency trading and unlawful dealings that led to the dollar's increase in value.

MATI stated that it had no knowledge of any such activity.

During a press conference on Wednesday, the authorities declared their choice to raise the official dollar exchange rate.

MATI expressed that it found it unsuitable to enforce a universal policy across the whole industry due to claims made against specific operators. The organization stated that it was neither accurate nor just to assert that resort operators were solely to blame for the rise in black-market prices.