Governor of Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) Ali Hashim has stated the net reserve or the usable reserve of the country can be calculated from the statistics published by the authority, even if the reserve amount is not published separately.
The governor made the remarks while speaking at the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts, in response to a question on the net reserve. The question was raised after President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih told reporters last week that the net reserve is not a published figure.
Speaking at the committee, Governor Hashim said the net reserve can now be calculated through the statistics that are regularly published by the authority. The governor said the policy on publishing the net reserve figure was revised following a recommendation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2018 to align the data publishing standards in accordance with the new international standards. He said although the figure is not published separately, it can be calculated using the published data.
Speaking at the committee, Governor Hashim also responded to claims that the reserve is under the threat of being exhausted due to rising inflation. The governor said considering the current situation and trends, the likelihood of exhausting the net reserve is low.
MMA had stated the net reserve of the country is currently USD316 million. This figure is expected to be at USD214 million by the end of the year.