Saturday
27th Apr 2024
Dhivehi Edition
State Debt
Debt Repayment Started to Save Country from Dangerous Financial Situation: Minister Saeed
Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed. | Photo: TMJ
The government is working to save the economy from the deep pit it has fallen into, and pay off the state debt, Minister of Economic Development Mohamed Saeed has said.
Saeed wrote this in a post on X today in response to reports in some media that the Bank of Maldives (BML) has decided to restrict the amount of foreign currency transactions using debit and credit cards issued for Maldivian Rufiyaa accounts.
The Bank of Maldives said it had reviewed the card limit but had not decided to reduce it further, despite the difficulties in obtaining dollars. No date has been set for the implementation of any new limit.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, it said BML had assured the ministry that it had not decided to reduce the amount of foreign exchange transactions using the card.
The Ministry, the Maldives Monetary Authority and BML are working together to resolve the dollar stagnation and bring about a positive change in the limit of cards, the ministry said in a statement.
In a post published in X in connection with the Finance Ministry's statement, Saeed said that when President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu took office, the government was stuck paying off the debt and outstanding bills left by the previous administration.
He added that the economy will grow by 5.5 percent this year. The International Monetary Fund has also forecast a stronger growth in the economy this year than last year.
The minister also mentioned that the government has resumed depositing money in dollars into the Sovereign Development Fund to ease the burden of paying the state debt.