National reserve could not sustain basic necessities: President Nasheed

Former President and the Speaker of Parliament, President Nasheed stated that the fund remaining in the national reserve cannot sustain the need for basic necessities.

Speaking regarding an argument posed by a member of parliament while debating the 19th Parliament Budget Committee appraisal report on the proposed budget for 2023, President Nasheed stated that members speaking haphazardly about the budget while our national reserve is essentially in a state of complete depletion was unacceptable and deceitful to the people.

Member of Parliament for the Maradhoo constituency, Ibrahim Shareef (Mavota) countered the speaker’s statement, stating that President Nasheed speaking against raising taxes to battle the reserve depletion issue proved that he had no motivation to eradicate the national reserve shortcomings.

In addition to President Nasheed expressing concern over depleting national reserves, statistic released by the central bank of Maldives, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) showed that, by the end of October, the national USD reserve held USD 499.6 million and only USD 105 million was available for utilization.

According to experts, the available reserve of USD 105 million roughly translated to the cost of a single month’s import goods.