Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has revealed that the government has paid USD30 million of the USD253 million which was printed to overdraw from the public bank account.
The State of Financial Position published by MMA shows that the advances to government, which was at USD253 million in December, was reduced to USD226 million in January.
The Parliament of the Maldives approved the government’s request to overdraw from the public account to meet state expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, MMA is not in favour of printing money, as it leads to inflation and the devaluation of the Maldivian Rufiyaa.
In April 2020, the Parliament approved the motion to suspend Article 32, section (a), (d), and (e) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act to allow the government to overdraw from the public bank account in order to manage the cash flow of the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Finance has stated that the suspension of the clauses allowed the government to manage expenditure and continuously provide its services and assist citizens and businesses to recover from the pandemic.
The economy of the Maldives has been growing at a rapid pace since the pandemic and the state collected USD221 million in revenue in January, which is a record amount in revenue collected in a month. Statistics published by Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) show that USD221 million in revenue was collected in January, which is a 43% increase compared to the same period last year and a 44% increase compared to the estimated revenue.