Economic Minister: Maldives will not run out of fuel or gas; will have steady supply of food staples

Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed provided assurance on Tuesday that the Maldives will not run out of fuel or cooking gas, and will continue to have a steady supply of food staples, despite the disruption to global trade and shipping due to the escalation in the conflict in the Middle East.

Speaking to reporters at a press briefing in the morning, Saeed said that the global oil prices jumped by 25-30 percent on Monday.

He noted that the price of oil is the most vulnerable to any changes to the security in the Middle East. He said that gas and almost all other commodities have been affected by the current conflict.

Saeed said that the Maldives has always had a contingency plan in place for potential changes to global oil prices, and has been carefully considering alternatives.

“As the President mentioned the previous day, we have no cause for concern at this time. Getting to the point; we will not run out of fuel. I say this with regard to both fuel and LPG [Liquefied Petroleum Gas],” he said.

Saeed said that the government has been engaged in key efforts to ascertain fuel and food security to cater to an increase in visitors and expatriate workers to the country.

He said that the government plans to boost the country’s storage capacity, improve logistics by exploring new routes in order to build Maldives food and fuel security to withstand external economic shocks.

“We were already making preparations when tensions began to simmer in the Middle East. The government had been making preparations. We were making proactive arrangements. For one thing, we therefore do not face any risks in this. Secondly, we already have fuel shipments enroute to the Maldives. We do not face any issues with the current transport route. No issue. We do not have any issues with our current stock either,” he said.

Saeed said the government is keeping a close eye on the situation.