Govt spends MVR 494 million in loan repayment

The Maldives government has spent MVR 494.4 million in loan repayment as of February 16, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The state will spend a total of MVR 2.1 billion this year to repay outstanding loans.

According to Ministry of Finance, almost eight percent of this year’s state budget will be used to repay state loans, which amounts to MVR 5.5 billion in total.

Over the next four years, including 2023, the Maldives government will spend a total of MVR 30 billion in loan repayment. The highest repayment to date, which is MVR 9 billion, will be made in 2026.

Despite the government's efforts to repay loans, the total state debt of the Maldives is projected to increase to MVR 114 billion by the end of 2023. This is more than 100% of the country’s national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

As of 2023, the internal debt of the state has doubled and is currently at MVR 62 billion; in 2019 it was MVR 32 billion. The external debt is MVR 40 billion, which is an increase of MVR 18 billion from 2019.

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has advised the government to employ new policies to better manage state debt. The central bank has also urged the government to improve the responsible spending of the Sovereign Development Fund (SDF), which was created with the primary purpose of repaying loans.