Costs remain high despite promises of price reductions by Ramadan’s end – Pres. says efforts ongoing to slash prices
Despite the president’s assurance that efforts are ongoing to make fruits and vegetables more affordable, none of the items the government targeted for price reductions have actually decreased so far
President Dr. Mohammed Muizzu speaking at a programme recorded at the President's Office and uploaded to YouTube on 27 March 2025
Although the government had stated that arrangements would be made to ensure that prices of goods in the market would not increase during the concluding fasting month of Ramadan, prices of some items have not been slashed so far, and President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu continues to assert that efforts are still ongoing to make fruits and vegetables more affordable.
In a pre-recorded program titled "With the People", where questions were collected in advance and the president answered selected questions, Muizzu said that among the projects initiated to establish food security in the Maldives, a target had been set to produce food in the Maldives to meet the needs of the country's population. He said that through achieving this goal, fruits and vegetables currently imported to the Maldives will be produced locally, and consequently, their prices will drop.
In addition to this, the president noted that prices of fruits and vegetables could be reduced through measures such as having the State Trading Organization (STO), the main importer of said items to the Maldives, identify the most commonly imported fruits and vegetables and arrange for them to be available at reasonable prices.
He noted that as arrangements are made, details of these efforts will be disclosed.
However, despite the government's assurances of early preparation for Ramadan and claims that prices would not increase, the price of limes was over MVR 40 per kilogram when Ramadan commenced. Even though STO imported limes to lower the price, prices remain high. STO was selling limes at this rate as well.
Further, coconuts became scarce, and although STO sold coconuts for MVR five each, this effort was unsuccessful, and the market price of a coconut rose to MVR 60. Even as Ramadan is nearing its end, the price of coconuts has not decreased so far. Later, STO started selling coconuts at a rate of one per person, and then switched to selling by kilogram.
The price of garlic also skyrocketed this Ramadan. While the price of garlic per kilogram rose to over MVR 140, it has only decreased by about MVR 30 so far this Ramadan. Although the government planned ahead and STO imported garlic, it failed to affect market prices, and they eventually started selling garlic at the rate of one kilogram per person.
While the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade had previously made arrangements to make expensive items in the market more affordable through advance planning, this year's Ramadan has been characterized by generally high prices of goods, with the government showing little concern for the issue.
Despite the president’s assurance that efforts are ongoing to make fruits and vegetables more affordable, none of the items the government targeted for price reductions have actually decreased so far.
