The Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), Ahmed Munawar, has discussed progress on integrating the Maldives’ FAVARA payment system with India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), as well as plans to introduce person-to-merchant (P2M) payments, during a meeting with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra in New Delhi on 19 October 2026.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of Samvad 2026, an international seminar for central banks organised by the RBI.
During the meeting, Governor Munawar expressed appreciation to the RBI for approving the first rollover of the INR 30 billion currency swap facility. He also provided an update on the UPI–FAVARA integration and discussed further cooperation on the P2M connection, which is scheduled to be launched in the first half of 2027.
The planned P2M connection aims to enable seamless payments for tourists and strengthen bilateral trade between the Maldives and India. The two governors also discussed opportunities to further enhance cooperation between the two countries’ central banks.
Governor Munawar was accompanied by Mariyam Rashfa, Managing Director of Monetary Policy, Economics and Statistics, and Abdulla Nasif, Deputy Manager of the Licensing Section at the MMA.