'Current gov't has created over 11,000 jobs'

The government has said despite the setbacks and challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration created over 11,000 jobs in the Maldives.

Speaking to the state media, Spokesperson at the President's Office, Mohamed Mabrook Azeez said the statistics on job creation can best be reviewed from the Maldives Pension Administration Office's database.

Mabrook responded to the opposition's claim that the administration of former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom had created over 104,000 jobs. Mabrook said if the opposition's claims were true, the figures would not tally with the statistics recorded by the government.

Mabrook further said while the 2014 census showed the Maldives' workforce to be around 250,000 people, they were all aged between 18 and 65. Comparing numbers, Mabrook said while the opposition claims the former government had indeed created 104,000 jobs, it is questionabe if 250,000 people were employed at the same time.

The spokesperson went on to say the actual number of jobs created by the previous government was 22,000, and created at a time when global economy was booming, over a span of five years.

'Global economy was thriving during those five years. Available data show the actual number of jobs created is around 22,000 if we include both private and public sector,' Mabrook said.

Noting that the current government has already created 11,000 jobs within three years despite the economic challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mabrook said more jobs will be created with new projects are launched or completed.

He further noted that the government had issued loans via the SDFC to over 900 individuals. While people in all atolls have received loans through SDFC, the loans were utlizied to create and expand different business opportunities, he said. Furthermore, the government has also paved way for education and skill development, and there are no governments that have done the same during a global crisis, he said.

The government has established a masterplan to identify the fields in which more jobs can be created.