Dollar-starved Maldives has floated a new foreign currency regulation, limiting types of transactions allowed in foreign currency and imposing mandatory foreign currency exchange controls on tourism establishments and banks.

Maldivian economy appears to have taken a hit after calls to Indian tourists to avoid the picturesque island nation as a response to President Mohamed Muizzu’s ‘India Out’ campaign last year. Maldives last month averted a potential default on an Islamic bond payment after India extended a USD 50 million interest-free loan.