World Bank Vice President for South Asia, Martin Raiser, has concluded his four-day visit to the Maldives, reaffirming the World Bank’s steadfast support for the country's development agenda, rooted in a robust partnership spanning over four decades. During his visit, Raiser emphasised the critical need for fiscal reforms in light of pressing challenges such as escalating spending, limited foreign exchange reserves, high debt levels, and heightened global interest rates.
In the capital city of Male’, Raiser held crucial meetings with key figures including President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, Minister of Finance Dr. Mohamed Shafeeq, Minister of Climate Change, Environment and Energy Thoriq Ibrahim, and Minister of Economic Development and Trade Mohamed Saeed, along with other cabinet ministers and development partners.
Acknowledging Maldives' commendable achievements in enhancing access to health, education, housing, and public services, Raiser emphasized the need for immediate measures to address fiscal and external deficits. These measures include controlling untargeted spending, enhancing revenue generation, and adopting prudent debt management practices. These actions are deemed crucial to create the necessary space for sustained investments in people, nature, and infrastructure, vital for Maldives' continued growth and prosperity.
The recently launched Human Capital Review for the Maldives, a joint effort of the government and the World Bank, highlights the nation's higher human capital compared to regional counterparts. However, it also underscores persistent regional and gender inequities. With a focus on fiscal responsibility, Raiser underscored the importance of prioritising spending, targeted subsidy allocation based on need, and improving service quality, especially in less developed islands, to address existing disparities.
Raiser’s visit also focused on addressing climate impacts that present an existential threat to the country’s nature and infrastructure. He stressed the interconnectedness nature of the economic and climate crises and the importance of working together with the government, development partners and the private sector to identify opportunities for investments that generate triple dividends in economic, social and environmental terms. The World Bank expressed its commitment to providing technical and financial support for these initiatives.