Falah: USD rate will be at MVR 10 under another 15 years of current administration

Ruling PNC’s Parliamentary Group leader and Inguraidhoo MP Ibrahim Falah, on Wednesday, remarked that the US dollar exchange rate should be reduced to MVR 10 if President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s administration is granted another 15 years in power.

Speaking during the debate on the no-confidence motion submitted by the opposition MDP against Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed, Falah blamed the high dollar exchange rate on the economic policies pursued by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration.

Falah alleged that the Solih administration had printed MVR 8 billion and depleted the state’s financial reserves. He also argued that loans obtained by the previous government had not been used for revenue-generating investments.

"When billions of dollars are borrowed without any investment in income-generating activities, and instead distributed among associates and friends without sound economic planning, this is the inevitable outcome," Falah remarked, criticizing the previous administration’s economic management.

He maintained that current inflation and high dollar rates were direct consequences of the previous government’s policies.

"God willing, if our administration continues for the next 10 to 15 years, the dollar rate will be at 10," he added.

The no-confidence motion against Minister Saeed was submitted by MDP members last August and brought before Parliament today, three months later. Following the debate, the motion was put to a vote. Of the 64 members present, 54 voted in favour of retaining confidence in the Minister, while 10 voted against him.

In their motion, the MDP cited what it described as a lack of effective economic reforms, which it claimed had contributed to a shortage of dollars and a rise in black-market exchange rates. In his defence, Minister Saeed said that during the first year of the current administration, the amount of dollars released at the official exchange rate for various purposes had increased by 80 percent compared to the final three years of the Solih administration.

This is the third no-confidence motion against a Cabinet minister submitted by the MDP during the 20th Parliament. Earlier motions against Homeland Security Minister Ali Ihsan and Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Ameen were also rejected by the PNC-majority Parliament.