Former govt closed all doors for dollar issue resolve: Saeed

The Minister of Economic Development and Trade Mohamed Saeed said on Sunday the former administration had setup mechanisms barricading all opportunities of solving the dollar issues.

He made the remarks during a press conference held by the ministry on Sunday, where he said the issue related dollar constraints was not tied to any singular element.

Saeed criticized the previous government, alleging the MDP-led regime had been irresponsible in its uncontrolled borrowings from Public Bank Accounts and launching politically motivated operations ahead of the presidential elections, which had been allocated in the state budget.

“For instance, they [former government] might have allocated MVR 100,000 for projects that actually require MVR 30 million, with all the traps laid perfectly, closing all the doors for the succeeding government [to fix dollar issues],” Saeed said.

Concerns about dollar constraints were raised during the 19^th parliamentary assembly, Saeed said, adding the current government – then opposition – had consistently urged then government against overdraft.

The minister said the previous government achieved this by suspending the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and alleged the issue is concerned with the former administration printing close to MVR 8 billion in currency.

Saeed said this overdraft facility was shut down by the current administration, confirming it had not printed any additional money.

“What they have done is take few of our statements to misconstrue the truth, which would come to light if we analyze the full tax report. They have taken our statement about possible reforms within a few months out of context, which we said regarding the improving tourism sector but long-term solution is a lot of effort, that is the total solution,” the minister said.

He further explained bulk imports from China and India for consumer markets would reduce dollar dependency as well.

While the official exchange rate of US dollar through commercial banks is at MVR 15.42, it has inflated significantly in the black market with average exchange rate currently above MVR 19.

The minister announced multiple ongoing efforts to resolve the dollar issues Maldives face currently.