Money Printing Will Starve The People: MP Shiyam

MP Ahmed Shiyam (Naifaru) has claimed that the government is printing money to “deliberately starve the people”.

MP Shiyam said this during the debate on the report issued by the Parliament Financial Committee regarding extending the government’s permission to print money.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the Ministry of Finance had successfully requested the Majlis for a suspension of adherence to certain articles in the Fiscal Responsibility Act in order to print money.

The Ministry of Finance has now requested the Majlis for an extension of that suspension for an additional year. This is the third time that the Ministry of Finance has requested that suspension for the purposes of printing more money.

Critiquing the statements made by MP Mohamed Nashiz (Kinbidhoo), Chairman of the Financial Committee, MP Shiyam claimed that MP Nashiz’s claim; that sturdy effort to implement the budgeted measures to increase government revenue in 2021 were underway; was made “based on no research, at all”.

MP Shiyam referred to some of the negative effects of printing money, as stated by MP Nashiz. Among those effects would be depreciation of the Rufiyaa with regards to US dollars, more pressure on the dollar market, and inflation. MP Shiyam said that the government’s insistence to go through with printing money while being aware of these outcomes was to intentionally starve the people.

In response to MP Nashiz’s claim that the State was faced with the choice of going bankrupt or printing money, MP Shiyam remarked that the only option available was for the people to come out and depose President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

The Financial Committee has decided against the opinion of the Maldives Monetary Authority that recommended that permission not be given to print more money due to concerns about inflation.