Economic minister rejects link between drop in import duty and FTA

Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed insisted on Saturday that there is no correlation between the free trade agreement with China and the sharp decline in earnings from import duty.

The latest weekly fiscal report released by the Finance Ministry shows the state earned MVR 138 million in import duties as of February 6. It marks a 64 percent decline from the MVR 385 million earned during the same period last year.

This led to questions over whether the FTA with China – which took effect at the start of this year -contributed to the decline.

During the ‘Ahaa’ forum held on Saturday night, Saeed was questioned about the benefits from the FTA with China.

Responding to the question, Saeed said that “some people are trying link the changes to import duty with the FTA.”

He said that Maldives has imported over MVR 1 billion in goods from China since the FTA took effect.

“There’s therefore no link between this and the FTA. There is no link between that and this drop, this decline,” said Saeed.

“It is beneficial to traders to facilitate the path to importing the goods that the Maldives needs. And that is also what’s beneficial to the people who use these goods… Not to have high tariff rates imposed.”

Saeed said that facilitating trade and ensuring people have access to affordable products is one of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s top priorities.