Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer has stated that the Maldives has enough usable reserves to purchase necessities such as staples, fuel and medical supplies for five months. He made the remarks in his written response to the Parliament of the Maldives in response to a question sent by Deputy Speaker of the People’s Majlis, North Galolhu MP Eva Abdulla.
On Wednesday, Minister Ameer stated that the amount in usable reserves is not published by the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) but that from the available data the finance ministry estimates that there are enough usable reserves in USD to purchase medicine, staple foods, and oil for five months. In regards to this, the minister also noted that MMA is the authority responsible to manage the usable reserves, formulating and publishing the relevant data. Therefore, he advised Eva to contact the MMA if she required further details as accurate information on such matters can only be obtained from the authority.
Earlier this month, during MP Eva’s query, she emphasized that the usable balance in the state reserve at the start of this month was USD 317 million. Stating that over USD 130 million would need to be spent this month and next month to repay loans, she said that the deficit budgeted for these two months is USD 150 million.
