Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer has said that he has no intention of seeking debt relief.
Minister Ameer briefed the parliament on the country's debt status at Wednesday's Parliament sitting in response to a question by Kulhudhuffushi North MP Yasir Abdul Latheef.
Yasir asked whether the government is trying to find ways to ease the debt repayment by negotiating with the countries that have issued loans to the Maldives.
In his response, the Finance Minister said that although the Maldives borrows from other countries, the country has never faced a situation where loans defaulted. Minister Ameer's response implied that such a situation is unlikely to occur in the future.
"Therefore, we do not anticipate a situation where we will default in the future. For this reason, we do not have any intention of negotiating with lenders to find ways to ease the debt repayment terms," Ameer said.
Although Minister Ameer has expressed confidence that the Maldives would not default on its loans, international financial institutions have noted that the Maldives' debt ratio was very high. Financial institutions are also calling to take measures to address the debt problem faced by the Maldives.
The total debt of the country has now exceeded MVR 100 billion. The country’s external debt stood at MVR 31.5 billion at the end of last year.
Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer
