Finance ministry Ibrahim Ameer has said that the Maldives national debt is USD 3.7 billion.

In his first press conference since being appointed as minister, Ameer said that USD 3.7 billion is 53% of Maldives’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Minister Ameer said that Maldives owes China USD 1.4 billion, which is 38% of the debt, and that the government has already spent USD 857 million of what China has agreed to loan.

He said that the country’s internal debt is USD 1.9 billion and its external debt is USD 1.8 billion.

He detailed that the cost of purchase orders is MVR 428 million and the cost of invoice processing is MVR 824 million.

The government also owes MVR 103 million to insurance company Aasandha, MVR 786 million to State Trading Organization (STO), MVR 151 million to state electric company STELCO, MVR 101 million to utilities company FENAKA, and MVR 65 to Island Aviation.

He said that the finance ministry is disclosing this information in order to be open and transparent.