"Maldives' economy is on the right path, claims of it being at a standstill are false"

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated that the Maldives' economy is on the right path and that any claims of it being at a standstill are false.

Speaking at the press conference held at the President's Office on Wednesday, President Solih assured that the Maldives' economy is on the right path and that any claims that says otherwise are means of politicians to create confusion among the nationals.

Sharing the detailed progress of the country's economy, the president stated that the challenges the world economy is facing at the moment, will have its impact on the Maldivian economy. He, however, stated that the claims of Maldives' economy being at a standstill are fabricated. He stated that instead of using the current situation of the world as a political tool, it is important that we all work together to face the challenges the country would face.

President Solih stated that the government aims to reduce expenditure and fulfill the spending needs with the income generated. As such, he highlighted that the state has made the decision to hold some projects. The President stated that the state has no plans to take any new loans to commence new projects.

The President also assured that the government would not put any ongoing projects on hold. He stated that 90 percent of the pledged projects are currently ongoing and that there aren't any extensive projects that need to be commenced next year.

President Solih stated that he has enough confidence that the state can carry out their recurrent expenditures with the current income generated.

Stating that the whole Maldivian economy came to a standstill in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, President Solih disclosed that the country's economy faced a loss of MVR 70 billion from its GDP. He stated that the state lost MVR 35 billion. He reiterated that the state had to take loans to enhance the health sector of the country and keep the economy going, without coming to a standstill.

He stated that as a result of this, Maldives' economy is seeing considerable progress. As such, he noted that even though the country's Net GDP fell by 150 percent , it has since increased to 113 percent.

Noting that the world had to face the impact of Russia-Ukraine war, without fully recovering from the impact of the pandemic, President Solih stated that the global rise in fuel prices will impact the country's economy. He stated that the state has to spend an additional 1.6 billion on subsidies due to this.

Stating that the aim of the government is to minimize the challenges that the nationals will face, the President assured that the country's economy is on the right path. He stated that the country's GDP will cross 100 billion by the end of 2023 and that the income generated by the state during the first five months of the year exceeds MVR 11 billion.

President Solih assured that the government is closely monitoring the global economy, and that they will take necessary actions.