Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has stated there are challenges in repaying the debt taken up by the state, but that next year's budget has allocated enough funds to repay the debt. He made the statement while speaking on the decision of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts to award the public accounts of Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).
Speaker Nasheed said the government is finding it difficult to repay the debt, as the state revenue generated is currently not enough to repay the total amount. He said it is crucial to confirm the state has enough funds to repay the debt budgeted for next year and to take account of the funds stored in the state treasury. The proposed USD 2.4 billion state budget for next year consists of debt of USD 628 million with an allocation of USD 188 million for debt repayment.
Speaker Nasheed said the government would have to repay a larger amount of debt in 2023, compared to next year. Nasheed also praised the Parliament for assessing the financial situation of the country and giving recommendations to the government, adding that it is now crucial to restructure the debt. He said work needs to be done to increase the grace periods to postpone repaying loans in the next two years.
The debt restructuring process involves work to reduce the interest rates on loans and extend the dates of liabilities due to be paid in order to improve the chances of repaying loans.