Dollar issue cannot be resolved anytime soon: Economic Development Minister

Minister of Economic Development Ahmed Mohamed has said that the price of US dollar will not come down in the near future.

Speaking today at a press conference held at Velaanaage press room, Ahmed Mohamed said that long-term planning is required to positively change the price of dollar.

“No positive change can be brought about by artificially increasing or decreasing the dollar price, as done by the former government. It requires the implementation of certain policies,” he said.

Ahmed Mohamed noted that the lack of dollars affects the price of commodities, and that the solution to this problem is to increase the amount of dollar in the economy.

To facilitate this, the Ministry is working on increasing foreign investment.

He stressed the importance of retaining the dollars earned in the Maldives.

“After Ramadan, we will announce several new projects. This would be a solution to the dollar problem,” he said.

Mr Ahmed Mohamed also criticised the discontinuation of import duty and the imposition of GST, and said that this did not result in a reduction in commodity prices.

“No positive changes came out of changing import duty and imposing GST. The prices of some items, in fact, went up. So, such action should be taken after considering the long-term effects,” he said.