"In the three months since President Dr Muizzu assumed office, USD 30 million has been deposited to the sovereign fund," Saeed claims.
Minister of Economic Development and Trade Mohamed Saeed has said today that USD 30 million has been deposited in the Sovereign Development Fund (SDF) in the three months since President Dr Mohamed Muizzu assumed office.
Speaking in a public gathering held today with residents of Haa Alif Kelaa, the Minister revealed that when President Dr Muizzu had taken his oath of office, he had discovered that the SDF held a total of USD 2 million and MVR 2.4 million at the time. He alleged that the former administration, led by then President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, had exchanged the foreign currency of USD 400 million which was in the fund and 'proceeded to empty it'.
"In the three months since President Dr Muizzu assumed office, USD 30 million has been deposited to the sovereign fund," he said.
"These are true leaders. Leaders who love the nation," he lauded the President.
According to Saeed's predictions, the fund will have USD 130 million by the end of this year.
SDF was initially established by former President Abdulla Yameen in 2017 as a means to pay State debt. Even at that time, Saeed was serving as Economic Minister.
Although Saeed has made these statements, Mihaaru reports that MMA statistics show the SDF currently has USD 7 million and MVR 106.6 million.
As per the proposed budget for this year, SDF received MVR 4 billion as Airport Development Fee, MVR 1.4 billion through cross subsidy projects and MVR 2 billion through other avenues by the end of September 2023.
MVR 5.7 billion of the money in the SDF is invested in t-bills. Other investments make up MVR 1.7 billion.
As per the budget, MVR 3.8 billion of the funds in the SDF will be used for debt repayment this year.
While it is expected that a large percentage of funds in the SDF will be spent on debt repayment in 2025 and 2026, the total state debt currently stands at MVR 120 billion.
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