Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) revealed that the Gross International Reserve (GIR) of Maldives contained USD 836.9 million in May 2020.
International reserves are external assets that are readily available to and controlled by MMA. It comprises mainly of foreign currency and other assets dominated in foreign currencies.
Monthly statistics revealed by MMA show that the funds in the reserve were in decline from January to March, falling from USD 776.6 to 741.4 million.
However, the values improved greatly in April, reaching USD 889.4 million, before seeing a slight decrease in May.
Although the gross reserves for May contain USD 836.9 million, only USD 201.4 million are classed as usable reserves.
As per MMA, the usable reserve is the foreign currency reserve that is immediately accessible by MMA in the foreign exchange market. Typically, the usable reserve contains enough funds for three months worth of imports.
During 2020, the usable reserve declined steadily, falling from USD 315.8 million since January.
Following the onset of the ongoing global pandemic, MMA took measures in order to minimise the effect of the health crisis on the state's reserves.
Hence, the authority acquired USD 150 million from the USD 400 million currency swap agreement signed with the Reserve Bank of India to expand the national reserve.
In addition to the above, transactions made with commercial banks, USD available to the public and government expenditure, are also set to affect the total amount held in the reserve.
Within the past five years, the gross international reserve was largest in February 2019, with USD 938.6 million. Since then, the reserve saw the largest increase in April 2020, with USD 889.3 million.
Despite the dips and peaks, the overall amount in the state reserve has been higher since President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was sworn into office in November 2018.
President Solih aims to increase the amount in the state reserve to USD 1 billion by the end of his tenure.
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