Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer has stated the administration of former President Abdulla Yameen had incurred a larger amount of debt than the current administration has in the past three years. He made the statement while responding to questions at the Parliament of the Maldives on the proposed state budget and the national debt.
Speaking at the Parliament, Minister Ameer noted the debt incurred by the administration of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the past three years is lower compared to previous governments. He said the largest amount of debt was incurred during the administration of President Yameen, which saw national debt rise to USD 2.6 billion.
The minister also presented statistical summaries of the various governments, which showed that national debt was at USD 401 million during the administration of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. The statistics also show the debt reached USD 732 million during the administration of President Mohamed Nasheed and was lowered to USD 401 million during the administration of President Mohamed Waheed.
Furthermore, Minister Ameer said the debt presented in the statistics is the central government debt and the sovereign guarantee debt. As such, the minister said the national debt is currently at USD 2.2 billion and that the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) is currently working on repaying some of the debt.
The minister also said the various loan agreements signed by Yameen's administration had increased the debt to USD 3.8 billion, while the loan agreements signed by the current administration increased the debt to USD 3.3 billion. He noted that Yameen's administration had increased the national debt during a time when the global and national economy was booming, while the current administration incurred its debt when the globe was suffering an economic crisis. The national debt rose during the current administration as a result of the government's efforts to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
Furthermore, Minister Ameer said the government is working to reduce its debt-to-GDP by 105% and reduce the primary deficit by 5% in 2023.