The Maldives’ central bank stated Wednesday that, as a result of increasing profit from foreign investments, USD 387.6 million (MVR 5.9 billion) were transferred out of the Maldives by foreign investors last year.
According to Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA)’s annual report of 2016, profits from foreign investments in the Maldives hold the largest share of the nation’s Primary Income Account. The account’s debt increased by USD 50 million last year, reaching a total debt of USD 374.6 million.
Regarding the Primary Income Account’s inflow, MMA’s report states that income via reserve management increased last year, recording a total inflow of USD 13 million.
The report also noted that the debt of the nation’s Secondary Income Account, which encompasses expatriate remittance, state money transfers and other transactions, had also increased in 2016. The total debt of the Secondary Income Account last year was USD 635.2 million.
MMA attributed the spike in Secondary Income Account’s debt to the USD 271 million paid by Maldives Airports Company Ltd (MACL) to GMR Group of India as compensation for breaking the contract awarding operations of Velana International Airport to GMR. The report also noted that expat remittance had spiked with an increase in the number of expatriate workers in the Maldives.
MMA statistics show that expat remittance in 2016 was USD 378.6 million.
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