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Maldives pays off debt of USD 250 million to India, total of USD 447 million from previous administration

Lamya Abdulla
03 February 2022, MVT 23:56
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih giving the Presidential Address on January 3, 2022, -- Photo: Parliament
Lamya Abdulla
03 February 2022, MVT 23:56

The current administration has paid back USD 447 million debt of former President Abdulla Yameen’s administration in addition to the USD 250 million currency swap facility taken from the Reserve Bank of India to manage the state reserve bank, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said on Thursday.

He gave his presidential address as mandated by the constitution today, while opening the first session of the parliament for the year 2022. He addressed a variety of topics regarding current affairs of the nation.

The swap facility taken from the Reserve Bank of India in 2019 to manage the state reserve was repaid on December 29, 2021. Currency swap is considered as debt until the payment is made.

"The government will begin taking measures to contain the value of the Maldivian Rufiyaa this year and tackling scarcity issues in obtaining foreign currency. The legal framework regarding the foreign currency market will be changed as well," said the President.

He said they have started to see the results they had previously taken in less than a year.

He noted that the Maldivian tourism industry was successful last year as well, exceeding the goal of one million visitors. Over 1.3 million visitors arrived to Maldives in 2021. He also said productivity was estimated at 31.6 to 38.5 percent last year.

"This is much higher than what was expected for Maldives by international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF," said the Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, delivering his presidential address. He said that the IMF predicts that Maldives will be among the five economies that will grow at the fastest pace this year. The government aims to bring 1.6 million tourists to the Maldives this year with a 12 percent increase in productivity.

The President said that the current administration also depends on loans to run the state. He said the government is confident they will continue to have a healthy economic policy to be able to repay their debts. He predicts they will be able to move to the pre-pandemic status by next year.

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