President of Maldives Dr Mohamed Muizzu has pledged on his new podcast 'Rayyithunaa Eku' [with the citizens] that his administration is working to issue stipends and course fees to students on government loans in US Dollar rather than Maldivian Rufiyaa.
On the podcast, the President said many students studying abroad include those on government scholarships and student loans.
Of these, 1,650 students are studying abroad on student loans alone, he said.
President Muizzu said that during his visit to the UK this month, he met with students funded by student loans, whose main concern was having to exchange dollars on the black market because they receive their loan money in Maldivian Rufiyaa.
"The student's request is that to provide the money they lose due to difficulties in converting the loans into dollars. The loans are being issued in local currency. I am sure that students studying on loans in all countries abroad would face this problem," he said.
"So, the students asked if [the government] could provide dollars to students studying via the loan scheme at bank rates.
The President said he had also discussed the issue with Finance Minister Moosa Zameer and asked him to find a solution for the students. So, Finance Minister Zameer is consulting Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA)'s Governor Ahmed Munawwar to implement the change, he said.
He went on to suggest that he would try to solve the problem faced by the students by making it mandatory for resorts to deposit dollars in local banks.
"It should be available to the students at bank rate in a way that it does not adversely affect the dollar market, to be used where they are studying. Once that is arranged, we will hopefully solve the problem of getting dollars at bank rate for the students under the loan scheme," he said.
The President said the concerns of those on scholarships were delays in getting responses to their emails and late tuition payments to universities
So, to solve that, the Ministry of Higher Education will take a WhatsApp business number for each country where students are studying abroad on scholarship and a dedicated employee will be hired to manage the number, the president said.
President Muizzu said he is working to improve the relationship between the Higher Education Ministry and the Finance Ministry and added that the government is prioritising the funds to be issued to students.
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