Debt per capita of Maldives will rise to MVR 266,075 by year end!

It has been deduced that each Maldivian passport holder will have a debt of MVR 266,075 hanging over their heads by the end of this year.

According to the 2023 proposed budget, the government estimated the country’s debt at MVR 105.7 billion, by the end of 2022, which is MVR 93.3 billion in direct loans, MVR 12.4 billion in guaranteed financing. While MVR 57.9 billion is internally acquired loans, the rest of the MVR 35.4 billion is externally acquired debt.

Corresponding to the findings of the most recent census, Maldives has a registered population of 397,372 and going on the premise that the total national debt is accurate per the government estimate, each individual will owe a debt of MVR 266,075 by the end of 2022. This is the highest amount owed per capita in the history of Maldives.

Additionally, the government has estimated that the national debt will increase upto MVR 113.7 billion by the end of 2023.

The public debt has drastically increased since President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih came into office. President Solih’s administration has accumulated over MVR 50 billion within four years. The public debt was at MVR 48 billion when President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Qayyoom concluded his term as president. This was including the debt acquired by all the previous governments.

According to the numbers, President Solih will be responsible for MVR 65 billion of the national debt. No other administration has seen such a steep incline in public debt in Maldivian history.

During his presidential campaign of 2018, President Solih asserted that he will not run the country into unnecessary debt. He said that he will never be secretive about national accounts and that the people can expect transparency from him.