President denies bankruptcy rumors, says loans being repaid

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has refuted rumors claiming Maldives has declared a sovereign default over the inability to repay loans, emphasizing that the loans are being repaid.

Speaking at GDh. Faresmathoda on Tuesday, President Muizzu refuted all rumors being circulated by individuals opposing the government concerning the Maldivian economy. One of such rumors, he cited in this regard was the ones claiming Maldives has declared bankruptcy and defaulted on foreign loans.

On the contrary, President Muizzu said his administration was repaying loans, paying salaries of the people and fulfilling their needs without defaulting.

He described his administration’s fiscal reform agenda as one that foreign agencies will not hesitate to recognize and accept.

On this note, he detailed that his administration was undertaking efforts to improve all matters related to the economy by cutting down expenditure and depositing funds to the Sovereign Development Fund (SDF) among other things.

He expressed hope for the economic state to improve following the implementation of these steps.

President Muizzu detailed that these efforts, despite being undertaken in difficult conditions, is envisioned to be achieved without straining the economy and printing new banknotes. He added that the decision to stop printing new banknotes had been praised by financial agencies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“I stopped printing banknotes to the sake of the people,” he remarked.

Speaking further, President Muizzu detailed further efforts by his administration to improve the economy, and in this trajectory, cited completing the development of the main airport which injects money into the nation, in addition to creating business opportunities for individual investors.