President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has assured on the country's economical health, claiming the Maldives State will not experience a complete reserve depletion.
According to the Maldives statesman, the island nation's state will not hit default owing to strong economic recovery.
Solih further noted on the state initiatives on resuscitating small to medium businesses amid the Covid-19 pandemic through state-acquired loans, which had helped with an overall bounce back in the economy.
The state debt intensified in terms of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amid the pandemic, which the current administration aims to reduce by 100 percent according to President Solih.
The current state debt is at MVR99 billion which translates to 97 percent of the country's GDP.
Meanwhile, Mr. Solih clarified that the state lost close to MVR70 billion during the past two years owing to the pandemic's heavy dent on the economic activities.
The overall loss includes a total of MVR35 billion in state revenues as well.
President Solih had further assured that the government will actively take necessary steps to control the price inflations on high-demand goods such as cement, flour and fuel.
Prices on fuel, cement and even flour inflated in the island nation from the ripple effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Furthermore, the island nation's president declared that the state was in need of acquiring MVR2 billion for the expected MVR9.9 billion state deficit in 2022.
State has already acquired MVR7.9 billion for the budget deficit.
President Solih had further claimed that the state may cease some of the infrastructural projects as a counter measure to acquire the remaining funds for the deficit.
He further noted on the heavy MVR1.6 billion fuel subsidy provided by the government each year, implicating on the mounting state expenditures.
Despite the challenges Maldives government faced amid the pandemic, President Solih was hopeful that the country's GDP will bump by MVR100 billion in 2023.
"We expected to acquire just MVR8 billion in revenues during the first five months but the government received MVR11 billion in revenues. This is highly indicative of the country's economic recovery," President Solih commented.
State expects to settle its highest loan repayment in 2026, which will be achieved through the Sovereign Development Fund (SDF) according to President Solih.
He further claimed that the country's state reserves held USD807 million, while ensuring that the purchase of staple foods through state-owned enterprises will not be hindered.
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