Maldives debt-to-GDP ratio climbs to 106 percent

Central bank, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) states Maldives’ debt-to-GDP ratio has climbed to 116 percent as of present.

MMA disclosed the statistics in its Economic Update September 2025, a monthly report by the central bank providing an overview of the current developments in the Maldivian economy.

As per the report, Maldives total debt, without including loans, for which a sovereign guarantee has been provided, climbed to MVR 127.8 billion at the end of this year’s second quarter. This marks an increase of two percent, indicating an increase in debt rather than an improvement in the economy.

With this, Maldives' debt-to-GDP ratio has climbed from 104 percent to 106 percent.

MMA attributed the increase in debt to domestic loans rather than foreign loans.

Meanwhile, in July 2025, the state’s expenses, excluding amortization, decreased by MVR 553.4 million compared to July 2024, mainly due to an MVR 587.4 million drop in capital expenditure. However, recurrent expenditure rose by MVR 33.9 million over the same period.

The gross international reserve increased to USD 810.0 million at the end of August 2025, up from USD 774.5 million the end of July 2025. At the end of September, the gross international reserve stood at USD 859.46 million.

However, reserve money (MO) declined by three percent at the end of August following a two percent decline at the end of July 2025.  This decrease largely reflected the annual drop in net foreign assets, which fully offset the rise in net domestic assets during the period. Net foreign assets declined mainly due to higher foreign liabilities, stemming from the USD 400 million swap obtained from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in October 2024, despite continued accumulation of foreign assets. Meanwhile, net domestic assets rose, primarily driven by increased claims on other depository corporations.