Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer has revealed the Maldives has enough usable reserves to purchase medicine, staple foods, and oil for five months. He made the remarks in a written statement to the Parliament of the Maldives in response to a question sent by Parliamentarian Eva Abdulla.
Parliamentarian Eva questioned Minister Ameer regarding the usable reserves the Maldives currently has in US dollars. She noted the Maldives had USD317 million in usable reserves at the start of June and that over USD130 million has to be paid in debt by the end of July. She added the budget deficit for these two months is USD150 million and inquired the minister about how much usable reserves would be left by the end of July.
In the written statement to the Parliament, Minister Ameer said that the amount in usable reserves is not published by the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) but that from the available data the finance ministry estimates that there are enough usable reserves in USD to purchase medicine, staple foods, and oil for five months. The minister noted that MMA is in charge of managing the usable reserves and formulating and publishing the relevant data. Therefore, he said that accurate information on such matters can only be obtained from the authority.
In an earlier statement, Minister Ameer said the Maldives has USD800 million in its usable reserve, adding that the largest loan to pay back is due in 2026, and there is no concern that the country would not be able to pay off the loan.