Parliament committee votes to extend overdraft period
All MPs in attendance voted in favor of extending the overdraft
Members of Parliament at an earlier sitting of the People's Majlis
The People's Majlis committee created to review Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer's request for an overdraft extension has voted unanimously in favor of extending the overdraft.
All nine members in attendance at the committee had voted to extend the period through which the state may continue to obtain funds unlimitedly from the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) in order to manage it's budget and expenditure for the ongoing year. Wednesday's sitting of parliament had seen the issue passed to a special review committee by vote.
As the deadline for the overdraft as initially issued is Monday, April 26, the committee had worked with a deadline to finish reviewing the issue completely by the end of Wednesday.
After five meetings held on through the night, all nine members of the committee voted in favor of granting Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer's request for an overdraft extension.
A special committee meeting was held at the People's Majlis on Wednesday, where Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer, Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) Ali Hashim and Auditor General Hassan Ziyath were called into attendance to discuss the overdraw extension under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, as requested by the Ministry of Finance.
The Ministry of Finance had requested an extension period for an overdraw taken from the Maldives Monetary Authority on 26 April 2020, which totals MVR 4.4 billion. In requesting the extension, Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer had stated that while the one year period initially given by parliament was almost over, and that the Maldives remained strained financially and economically due to Covid-19.
Minister Ameer had noted the Maldives was not financially capable of following Article 32 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and that attempting to enforce it would result in disruption of the economy and challenges in managing cash-flow for the state. Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer had stated that the Maldives had yet to recover from the economic downturn caused by Covid-19, that excludes the state from certain legal provisions as under Article 36 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
