Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has revealed businesses in all sectors apart from the construction sector recorded expansion in activity during the final quarter of 2021.
As per the quarterly business survey report published by MMA, businesses in the sectors of tourism, transport and communication and wholesale and retail trade all expanded activities during the final quarter of 2021. The report said with the continuation of the historical peak season of tourism into the first quarter of 2022, businesses in all the sectors included in the survey anticipate a continued expansion of business activity, although the pace of expansion is expected to slow down in some sectors. The report further stated employment levels had increased moderately in the tourism, transport and communication sector, while businesses in construction and the wholesale and retail trade sector registered declines.
The report added input prices had increased in all sectors, although there was a moderation in the pace of increase in input prices. The report said prices charged decreased significantly for businesses in the wholesale and retail trade sector, and the transport and communication sector as the average selling price index and prices charged on average index turned negative respectively. However, prices charged for businesses in tourism and construction continued to remain elevated, with the tourism sector registering the biggest improvement during the fourth quarter of last year.
As per the report, the financial situation of the businesses improved for all the sectors, except for the construction sector,
where the financial situation index remained below zero during the last quarter. The report said businesses in the tourism and wholesale and retail trade sectors expect their financial situation to improve in the next quarter. However, the report said businesses in the construction sector and the transport and communication sector expect their financial situation to worsen in the first quarter of 2022, with the latter registering a marked decline and the former expecting a slight moderation.