August sees further decline in national reserve

The assets in the national reserve declined further in August.

Statistics released by Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) showed that the national reserve decreased to USD 657.97miliion, of which only USD 244 million is authorized for utilization.

By the end of July, authorized general reserve consisted of USD 282 million, which had depleted by USD 38 million. The authorized general reserve has seen a gradual decline over the last four months.

At the beginning of this year the authorized general reserve carried USD 371, which is now missing USD 127 million. Therefore, MVR 1.9 billion of the authorized reserve has been used since January 2022.

While the national reserve continues to deplete, one of the largest investment banks of the world, J.P. Morgan has estimated complete depletion on the Maldivian national reserve by 2023. Furthermore, CEO of the national bank, Bank of Maldives had also foretold the likeliness of Maldives being submerged in a situation resembling the Srilankan financial crisis.

However, the current administration has continued to deny any such notions.

Tourism Minister Dr. Mousoom and even mocked the report published by JP Morgan claiming the report had no merit as it was “prepared by the bank’s receptionist”.