Parliament approves Munawar’s appointment as central bank chief

Parliament, on Tuesday, has approved the appointment of of former Finance Minister Ahmed Munawar, who currently serves as an advisor to the incumbent Finance Minister, as the Governor of central bank, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu sought parliamentary approval to appoint Munawar to the post after dismissing Ali Hashim, who previously held the post, at the recommendation of the parliament, last Tuesday.

Parliament approved Munawar’s appointment by the unanimous votes of 78 MPs in attendance.

Public Accounts Committee approved Munawar’s appointment on Monday after they interviewed him. Parliament’s Deputy Speaker, Dhiggaru MP Ahmed Nazim said Munawwar scored over 70 marks on average, and henceforth, proposed to recommend to the Committee to greenlight his appointment as MMA’s Governor.

The proposal was approved by the unanimous votes of all committee members in attendance.

Parliament voted in favor of counseling Hashim’s dismissal following its review of a no-confidence motion against the central bank chief, submitted by Deputy Nazim to the Public Accounts Committee, citing his failure to perform his duties.

Notice had been served to Hashim to appear before the Committee to respond to the motion on three occasions despite which he failed to attend citing health-related issues on all three occasions.

Following the last notice, Nazim proposed that the Committee decide on the motion without granting Hashim any further chances and based off an earlier written response from the governor.

In his written response, Hashim said he provided timely counsel to the government but was not heeded resulting in the turbulent economic conditions presently.

According to the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) Act, the Governor of the central bank will be dismissed by the president, under the advisement of the parliament.