Minority Leader of the Parliament and representative of the Eydhafushi constituency Ahmed Saleem called on Monday to reduce to the annual state budget for 2022 from MVR 36.9 billion to MVR 25 billion.
Speaking at the parliamentary debate on the budget, PPM member Saleem said that the US Dollar to Maldivian Rufiyaa rate has not been maintained due to the high debt in the budget, which leads to the prices of products to increase. He pointed out that the debt had been at an average of four billion in the previous administration, while it's around 14 billion in the current one.
"We can't control the Dollar price because the budget debt is too high. It is not that US Dollars are not entering Maldives. Enough Dollars enter [Maldives' economy]. It is available if people are willing to spend enough money on it," Saleem said.
He said that the budget needs to be reduced in order to to reduce and contain the value of the dollar. Even though people believe there is no connection on the two issues, Saleem stated that there are extensively connected.
"We can go forward if we reduce the debt only. I call to reduce the debt to MVR 25 billion."
Maldives' debt increased when economic activity halted last year due to the pandemic. Saleem reiterated the importance of reducing the debt to overcome the current economic obstacles, and stated that products will be extremely overpriced for Ramadan next year.
Some MDP members have also expressed concern over the increase in the state debt. Expressing concern, Maradhoo MP Ibrahim Shareef said that raising the state debt to 100 billion is not a burden Maldives can shoulder.
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