President Muizzu said that, in addition to the MVR 4 billion paid to various private companies, MVR 7 billion had been paid to state-owned enterprises over the past seven months, along with MVR 2.7 billion repaid in foreign debts.
The government has repaid MVR 4 billion to private companies so far without printing money or taking out large loans at high interest rates, which could prove to be harmful to the Maldives' economy, said President Dr Mohamed Muizzu last night.
The President made these remarks while speaking at the opening ceremony of the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) hub 'PNC House', located in a hall in front of Artificial Beach which previously housed political party hubs for The Democrats, and earlier, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
The current administration previously stated that when it came to power on November 17, the state owed MVR 9 billion to various businesses.
During the ceremony, President Muizzu stated that, in addition to the MVR 4 billion paid to various private companies, MVR 7 billion had been paid to state-owned enterprises over the past seven months, totaling MVR 11 billion in debt repayment.
"We have financed development projects and many other important works from government revenue without printing money. Out of the foreign debts, MVR 2.7 billion have been paid on time without defaulting on a single payment," the President said.
"Approximately MVR 13 billion in state debts have been paid within the past seven months," the President said.
- MVR 4 billion to private companies
- MVR 2.7 billion in foreign debts paid without defaulting on a single loan
- Government cleared MVR 13 billion in debts within seven months
President Muizzu said the opposition does not want these facts and figures to be made public. He added that the government and the PNC would speak the truth.
The President reiterated the government's decision to stop printing money during last night's ceremony. He highlighted that it was one of the key pledges he made during the run-up to the presidential elections and noted that the move was welcomed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
President Muizzu said that stopping the printing of money was a very difficult decision at a time when the parliamentary election was nearing and the government had no political power in the parliament.
"It would have been easy to do things [printing money] as before. The previous government had printed money more than ever before in the history of the country. I spoke about it a lot—that it [printing money] was more than [what was printed] in the past 40 years. We could have easily acted in a similar manner,” he said.
The President said that continuing to print money is the easiest route but also an insincere path.
"That is a shortcut. However, it would land us in a hard place. That is why I chose the bitter medicine, which is the true cure for the nation," President Muizzu said.
He added that when the new government came to power, the Sovereign Development Fund (SDF) had USD 2 million, and the funds in the SDF had been utilized by the previous administration under former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
The purpose of the Sovereign Development Fund is keep funds to ease the burden of debt repayment.
According to President Muizzu, the government has added more money to the fund, which now stands at USD 54 million. He highlighted that this achievement was accomplished while also making repayments to private companies.
"Our target is to increase the Sovereign Development Fund to USD 100 million by the end of this year. God willing, this will be achieved in accordance with our economic agenda, which was launched with our manifesto during the ceremony held in Hulhumale' at the start of the presidential election. This goal will not change," he said.
"We are doing this in accordance with the agenda launched on that day," he said.
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