National debt increased to a record amount in past two years

Finance Ministry has revealed that the national debt of the Maldives has risen to a record amount in the past two years.

In the debt report on the last quarter of 2018 that was issued by the Finance Ministry, it was noted that the national debt of the country increased by MVR 18.2 billion between 2016 and 2018. External debt had increased to MVR 20 billion and domestic debt reached MVR 27 billion during the period.

During the past two years, the government had taken out several loans through state owned companies while providing loan guarantees, due to which guaranteed debt increased by 267% during the period.

The total loans on-lent to state owned companies outstanding at end of December amounted to MVR 2.2 billion, with the top beneficiaries being Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), utility company FENAKA and Housing Development Corporation (HDC).

By the end of 2018, the total debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at 72%, which is an 1% increase when compared to 2016-2017, which was at 61% at end of 2016 and 2017.