President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated that the country’s economic progress will be heavily affected due to the worrying spread of the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), however, the government will put in its best efforts to ensure the services being provided to citizens will not be hindered.

Addressing the nation regarding the global pandemic for the first time, the president noted that economic progress has been dwindled across the entire globe even now, adding that the impacts are being observed for the Maldives economy as well.

As such, while the tourism sector is one of the largest contributors to the country’s economy, Solih stressed that tourist arrivals have decreased by 22.8 percent in comparison to the previous year, just ten days into the ongoing month.

As for bookings, a total of 161,740 bookings have been cancelled within the period between 26 January and now.

Owing to this, tourist arrivals throughout this year are expected to drop between 12 – 35 percent in comparison to the previous year.

The government earlier predicted that the country’s tourism to grow by eight percent, with a GDP increase of 7.5 percent.

During his address, the president noted that arrangements are underway to provide basic necessities as well as medications without any hiccups.

Neighboring India is also prepared to extend assistance for a period of three months, as needed, said Solih.