Nasheed: Dollar rates down, MDP did not sort this

Former President Mohamed Nasheed on Tuesday, March 05, 2024, said positive effects of halting overdraft is now visible with lower US Dollar exchange rates.

The former MDP leader said the current opposition party deliberately did not resolve the hiking dollar exchange rates during its government.

Nasheed made the statement via his unofficial X handle on Tuesday.

On his post, Nasheed said the black market exchange rates have begun dropping, while inflation rate is expected to slow down subsequently reducing prices on consumer items. He added these positive changes are the direct result of government's decision to stop overdraft or money printing.

Although the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) fixed the exchange rate for US dollar at MVR 15.42, exchanging dollars at this rate is now impossible.

The current black market exchange rate for US dollar is between MVR 17 and MVR 17.40.

Maldives is currently facing turbulent economic times, which the current government said was actively working on mitigating, with the decision to stop printing money being among the key steps taken to reduce further risks.

The previous government suspended the act that enforced state accountability on expenditure to print money during Covid-19 pandemic, which was one of the key steps taken to mitigate the economic risks. The previous state received go-ahead to print money up to MVR 4.4 billion during the said period.