The highest economic priority for the administration is the repayment of its external debts, a failure which would plunge the nation into default and unleash widespread negative repercussions across the entire country, the Chief Government Spokesperson, Mohamed Hussain Shareef, warned.
Speaking during the 'Presser with the Spox' press conference series detailing the nation's debt management and economic trajectory, the chief spokesperson noted that the country finds itself in a fragile economic state, with the administration expressing dissatisfaction regarding internal debt levels. While resolving this domestic strain remains a parallel objective, the administration has no intention of achieving economic reform at the expense of civilian necessities, asserting that the importation of essential oil, the disbursement of employee salaries, and the provision of medical care will remain fully supported.
"Our domestic debt currently stands at a significantly higher level than we consider acceptable," the chief spokesperson remarked. "We can, nevertheless, manage this burden gradually and in deliberate stages. It would have been exceedingly difficult to move forward by making adjustments to domestic debt given the previous, elevated levels of our external debt."
International financial institutions have advised the administration to aggressively curtail expenditures, yet the administration refuses to suspend citizen-focused services in the name of austerity, the chief spokesperson stated. The government has made tangible progress in managing its fiscal standing over the past two years, guaranteeing that the impending debt obligations scheduled for September of this year will be fully met, he observed.
International financial institutions have documented an overall improvement in the country's fiscal condition, echoing the administration’s optimistic outlook. Over a span of two and a half years, the current administration has retired USD 1.29 billion in debt, successfully reducing the nation's total external debt to 44.5 per cent of its gross domestic product by the end of May of this year, the chief spokesperson said.