Planning to head off on an island excursion to the Maldives? If a Maldivian vacation is in the books for you, it is crucial that you carry the necessary amount of money with you, so that there will be no shortages in case of an emergency. Do you know the country’s official currency and other details about it?
What is it?
Banknote 5 Maldives Rufiyaa | Image via Wikimedia Commons
A rule of thumb before you set off on your island vacation to a property like Atmosphere Kanifushi is to identify the currency of the Maldives, Rufiyaa. The rate of this currency versus the US dollar is controlled and issued by the Monetary Authority of the Maldives. The name is believed to have been formed by the influence of the word Rupiyaa (Hindi) and Rupya (Sanskrit).
The Story Before the Penny
While skimming through the activities in Maldives for your vacation, why not invest some of that time to research how the Rufiyaa reached this island nation? Long before the Rufiyaa, the Maldives used cowry shells as their currency, which then evolved into the use of Larin, a currency which was also used in India, Ceylon, the Persian Gulf and the far eastern countries in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The Story of the Penny
During the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, the use of coins became a common practice in Male. He then introduced another change in the way that transactions were made by introducing the Ceylonese Rupee in 1947, but the revolution was brought in when the Rufiyaa banknotes joined the force at an equal value to the Ceylonese Rupee.
The Economy
The Maldives is heavily dependent on fishing, shipping, and tourism, where the latter is what has made this island nation a global phenomenon. A majority of the foreign exchange inflows to the country comes through their largest commercial activity, tourism, while fishing has grabbed the second most important spot in the economy.