Malé, Maldives – Amidst serious speculation and the growing concern from the public and analysts, Finance Minister, Ibrahim Ameer has denied claims of a reserve depletion followed by the economic risk of defaulting.
In a series of tweets published by the Minister on Sunday night, he said that such speculated talk can be misleading to the public and foreign investors with an undesirable impact nationwide, adversely affecting the market and agitating the country’s economy in this time of volatile international affairs.
He mentioned in his tweets of the rapid economic growth and assured that the economy will bounce back to its pre-Covid-19 state, by the end of this year. With respect to the fiscal status, Ameer further highlighted this to be the resulting resilience of the Maldivian people and commercial activities, hand in hand good governance of the health and economic crises of Covid-19.
Adding to his comments on the matter, Ameer has pointed out that disturbances in the world economy and rising prices of consumer goods, especially that of fuel prices in the international market will affect the Maldives without exemption. He noted that subsidies on certain goods and services such as electricity have already risen due to this. Ameer has said that the government is monitoring the situation and taking preventive measures, while emphasizing to act on opportune moments to mitigate the risks associated. He also announced that ITFC’s trade finance facility limit has been increased up to USD 175 million to minimize the risks of a reserve impact.
In his last tweet in the thread, Minister Ameer stated that the government revenue has seen growth, while there has also been a stretch in the expenditures. He concluded by reassuring that the government is working on reshaping the budget and financing in order to remain steadfast on the right fiscal direction, without letting any services interrupted.
