Male: Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said he cannot launch any new development projects due to the debt situation in the country. He said he did not want to mislead the public about the economic situation that his administration “inherited”, according to Male-based news outlet Adhadhu.
Muizzu had to disclose the real state of the economy as he was under pressure from the people who had been complaining about stalled projects in the archipelago nation. “The next two months will be the most difficult. This is the most critical time,” he said during a visit to one of the country’s islands, Guraidhoo. “It will become much easier after July. But we’re starting now to do the work necessary to earn income.”
Muizzu, who assumed power in November last year, has tilted towards China, which is counted among the major lenders to Male. He said there were difficulties in carrying out development projects while “we are trying to manage debt”. “I want to carry out more development projects. But this is why we cannot start all the stalled projects and launch new projects in all the islands at once,” he said.
The Maldivian President said he cannot tell the people that he will fulfill everyone’s requests at the same time. “The economy we inherited is in a bad state. We need to take measures because of the level of debt,” he was quoted as saying by Adhadhu. “We have started a lot of hard work to fix this. Both the IMF and the World Bank accept the economic manifesto I presented during my campaign.”
Muizzu, who has been facing backlash from the country’s opposition parties over his anti-India stance, said he had met with officials from the World Bank and the IMF and they agreed that the solution to improve the country’s economy was to implement the government’s policies. “We will tell you what can be done and what will be done. Some things might take longer. We will be honest and true to our word,” he said.
A month before Muizzu took over as President, the World Bank said growing external and fiscal vulnerabilities were posing risks to the Maldivian economy, particularly if Male continues to borrow at high costs. It said by 2026, the $5.4 billion Maldivian economy will have to service a record $1.07 billion in external debt.
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Will lead Maldives to have no “foreign” military presence: Muizzu
President Mohamed Muizzu said by bolstering the defense capabilities of the Maldives, the country will soon reach a point where there is no “foreign” military presence, weeks after he sought the withdrawal of Indian defense personnel from the archipelago nation.
The statement comes a day after Muizzu, who rode to power on anti-India posturing, declared that the Maldives will maintain autonomous control over all its territories, including maritime, aerial, and terrestrial domains apart from enhancing Maldives’ capabilities for conducting underwater surveys.
In his first presidential speech on Monday, Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, had said the first group of Indian military personnel will be sent back from the Maldives before March 10 and the remaining manning two aviation platforms will be withdrawn before May 10.
