“Gov’t is forcing MMA to print money, pushing Maldives’ economy to the brink of danger"
MMA has decided to buy 22 hectares of land for approximately MVR 15 billion
Former Finance Minister Ibrahim Amir speaks at a press conference at the MDP office
Former Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer has stressed that the incumbent administration is forcing the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) to print more money for political gain, thus pushing the Maldivian economy to the brink of danger.
Ameer made these comments while speaking at a press conference held on Monday.
He said that the government is forcing the central bank to work against its mandate.
The government has decided to inject money into the economy through the central bank. This is planned to be done through a transaction where the MMA will purchase 22 hectares of land from the assets of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC). Ameer shared the details of this at the press conference.
He stated that MMA has decided to buy 22 hectares of land for approximately MVR 15 billion. Ameer said that they have decided to print the money needed for this transaction. According to Ameer, this is a step that will destabilize the Maldives’ economy. He said that this would cause irreparable damage to the economy.
Ameer raised questions about how MMA is conducting this transaction. He said that there isn't enough money in the country's reserves to carry out such a transaction. Therefore, he stated that this cannot be done using the foreign currency reserves. However, he mentioned that it could be done by selling bonds to banks, but the central bank won't conduct the transaction by taking money from the banks. Therefore, Ameer said that the only way for the MMA to conduct this transaction is by printing more money.
According to Ameer, this had to be done because of the inability to find money for the budget. He said that the government seems to be thinking of ways to find money from the domestic market. This includes heavily investing in treasury bills through the Bank of Maldives (BML) and influencing the finances of companies. The former finance minister said that the government has managed financial matters through such methods.
