Muizzu targets raising GDP per capita to USD 17,000

Opposition PPM-PNC presidential candidate, Dr. Mohamed Muizzu says he is targeting raising the real GDP to MVR 150 billion, and the GDP per capita to USD 17,000 within five years in office.

In an event held in Male’ on Sunday night to launch his economic manifesto, Muizzu said the Maldivian economy had fallen, after being in a good position during former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration.

“Now, given the current administration’s policies, every child born here in Maldives has a MVR 200,000 debt on their head,” he said.

“This sentence describes the current economic situation in a nutshell.”

Muizzu said that the current administration’s poor economic policies have raised the country’s debt to MVR 114 billion, and the debt of state-owned enterprises to over MVR 32 billion.

He said that this included MVR 62 billion in new debt incurred during the current administration, which has raised the total debt to MVR 146 billion.

“This is the situation we face. This is the task we face; to pull out the economy from the hole it has been put into,” he said.

Muizzu attributed the high debt to unchecked projects and increased political appointees.

Muizzu said that by the end of Yameen’s administration, the country’s GDP per capita had stood at USD 10,000 – a 35 percent increase from when he took office.

He said the figure has now by 12 percent, with debt now higher than income.

Muizzu attributed this to the delay in competition of the development of the Velana International Airport - closing the door to further tourism development, and the administration’s poor fisheries policies.

He said the administration’s response to the crisis was to print money and sell T-bills and sukuk.

“The damage from all this is being borne by the people. I don’t see the people benefitting in any way,” he said.

Muizzu said that it wasn’t just alleged foreign military presence that is threatening Maldives’ independence, but the country is also economically enslaved. He said that 50 percent of the country’s debt is loans from India, leaving the country heavily economically dependent on a specific country.

He promised to make transformational changes to stabilize the economy, and expand to expand the economy.

He also promised to reduce the budget deficit to a single digit figure, maintain the exchange rate at a fixed rate, and increase the central bank’s reserves.

Muizzu said that he has made a debt management plan for up until 2026, which will restore Maldives’ credit rating to that of 2016.

“We will restore investor confidence and refinance to repay loans,” he said.

Muizzu also highlighted his vision for the development of tourism and fisheries industries.

He said plans on increasing cold storage facilities and increase the production and export of canned tuna.

“Our target will be to can practically all the tuna we purchase,” he said.

Muizzu said this will increase the income from fisheries to the same level, or even higher than from tourism.

Muizzu said he will secure up to USD 4 billion in foreign direct investment for tourism, and also develop the agriculture sector and designate islands for farming.