Government securities stock increases

The total outstanding stock of government securities, which includes Treasury bills (T-bills) and Treasury bonds (T-bonds), increased by 45 percent over the past year, the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has said.

The central bank said in its Monthly Economic Review for November 2015, that the stock of securities totalled MVR 20.1 billion at the end of October 2015, constituting a monthly increase of 3 percent.

The annual increase of 45 percent is due to a significant increase, from MVR 3.1 billion at the end of October 2014 to MVR 7.0 billion at the end of the review month, in the outstanding amount of T-bonds.

The authority said that the increase in T-bonds largely reflects the conversion of a short-term loan extended to the government by MMA to a T-bond on 30 December 2014, as well as a T-bond issued to the pension fund in July 2015.

The report further states that the total outstanding T-bills rose by 22 percent in annual terms and amounted to MVR 13.1 billion at the end of October 2015.