10 varieties of Saeed, 10 varieties of fruit, and 23 unmet pledges
27 އޯގަސްޓު 2026 | ބުރާސްފަތި 11:21Although Minister Saeed had previously expressed ambitious aspirations for large-scale projects, such as bunkering and a development bank, as means of diversifying the economy and increasing foreign currency earnings, those conversations have now been reduced to a list of a handful of fruits and vegetables. His attempts to frame the resolution of the country's critical economic challenges around such mundane matters have since become a subject of ridicule among the general public
Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed: Framing the solutions to the country's critical economic challenges around trivial, everyday matters has now become a laughingstock among the general public | RaajjeMV
A cloud of unease hangs over the political and economic sphere in the Maldives, driven by the chronic inability to branch out beyond the usual revenue streams.
Just listen to the central bank leadership. Whenever the Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) Ahmed Munawar steps up to evaluate the state of finances, economic diversification is his inevitable buzzword.
During his latest media appearance, Munawar doubled down on this philosophy, insisting that spreading out the economic base remains the magic cure-all for every financial woe plaguing the country.
Naturally, the public expected Minister of Economic Development, Transport and Trade Mohamed Saeed to command the stage and present a sweeping record of transformative milestones and hard-won triumphs. Instead, onlookers were treated to an absurd sideshow.
Every grand conversation regarding vital economic infrastructure and major policies sputtered, ran completely out of steam, and quietly dissolved into a lecture on distinct selections of garden produce.
The USD delusion
At the dawn of the Muizzu administration, Saeed strutted out an apparently bold portfolio of reforms championed under the Diversification banner. Leading the charge was the rollout of international bunkering operations.
Right out of the gate, Saeed inflated national hopes by promising that local bunkering would pump USD 400 million every year straight into state coffers, framing it as an indispensable gateway to capturing desperately needed foreign reserves.
Next came the flashy theater of affluent overseas sheikhs touching down to build a USD-800-billion trade mega-hub, paired alongside the birth of the Development Bank of Maldives to steer national financial salvation.
Back then, it felt like an avalanche of foreign currency was poised to flood local shores. These three ventures formed the holy trinity of Saeed’s diversification strategy. Fast-forward to the present, and he acts as though these flagship pledges never even existed.
A never-ending produce loop
At present, Saeed’s signature policy quirk is that no matter what dilemma is being addressed, the debate inevitably degenerates into a roll call of 10 types of vegetables, 10 types of fruits, and an extra 23 varieties of crops.
Whether citizens are grappling with systemic market hurdles, a suffocating dollar crunch, or the daily grind of survival, this exact produce inventory is dragged out until it has transformed from a public annoyance into a national punchline.
The fixation has become so suffocatingly absurd that if a family celebrates an upcoming birth, marks a boy's circumcision, settles a divorce, or pops the question for marriage, the dialogue inexplicably steers straight back to those 10 vegetables, 10 fruits, and 23 additional agricultural items.
An economic comedy show
Cabinet members of Saeed’s caliber have successfully dragged the arena of serious fiscal strategy down into a cut-rate political circus. If the administration harbors even an ounce of sincere ambition to rescue the economy of the Maldives, citizens have a single, glaring demand: ditch the tired obsession with 10 vegetable varieties, 10 fruit varieties, and those 23 other garden goods.
Saeed seems incapable of tackling any national dilemma without shoehorning this harvest catalog into the microphone. In his narrow fiscal universe, the entire wealth and momentum of a sovereign state apparently hinges on stocktaking a handful of market greens and orchard pickings.
Watching a dream of USD 400 million in bunkering cash collapse into an obsession over grocery crates is easily the most embarrassing and tastelessly comical chapter of Saeed’s entire political run.
