MVR 444 million in unpaid contractor bills released

The government has released MVR 444 million in outstanding payments owed to private contractors for projects carried out under the previous administration, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has said.

Addressing the People's National Congress (PNC) rally at Artificial Beach on Friday, President Muizzu said the government began clearing the arrears earlier this month, after pledging in early October to settle the dues within five weeks. That deadline expired on 6 November.

“Five weeks ago we started paying the bills. As of today, 1,040 people have been paid for their previous work,” he said.

“We have paid a total of MVR 444.3 million in pending bills in the last few days."

He added that payments would continue daily until all outstanding amounts were cleared.

President Muizzu criticized the previous administration for leaving the debts unpaid, describing it as harm caused to businesses.

“They are bills that the previous government left behind. they cheated and hurt different people,” he said.

Responding to opposition allegations that his government was printing money to make the payments, President Muizzu rejected the claim.

“We will not print money. We do not want to print money,” he said.

Earlier, during a visit to Gaafu Alifu and Gaafu Dhaalu atolls, President Muizzu said MVR 500 million was owed to local contractors and pledged at the time that the amount would be settled within a week.

In November last year, he said the government had disbursed more than MVR 6 billion to private companies during the government's first 51 weeks.