Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer has stated that if the debt in Maldives were restructured, investors would have lost their confidence and hesitated to invest.
He made this comment on Monday, when the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee met representatives from Economic Ministry, Finance Ministry, and Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) in order to discuss debt and debt management.
Speaking at the meeting, Minister Ameer stated that an attempt to decrease interest rates and extend the repayment period would have resulted in the loss of investor confidence. He added that the government is managing its debt in a market-friendly manner, in a way that does not disrupt ongoing projects.
Furthermore, he noted that the loans taken by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic have allowed the economy to move forward at a good pace, and that the situation is improving mainly due to the recovery of the tourism industry. Ameer also mentioned that speculation regarding the risk of Maldives exhausting its reserves and defaulting on its loans was unfounded.
Statistics released by the Finance Ministry show the state reserve’s balance was USD 829 million in April 2022. The balance was USD 604 million in November 2019, before the pandemic. The figure had risen to USD 1.02 billion in September 2021.
