The President Briefs On The Progress Of The Administration’s Socioeconomic Plans

On Wednesday, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih held a special press conference to brief the media about the progress of the administration’s socioeconomic plans. The President reflected on the year 2022 and stated that this year has been a challenging one for the country’s economy with the Maldives facing two major global geopolitical shifts.

The Russia-Ukraine war in Eastern Europe and the ensuing problems faced by the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in alarming economic crises worldwide. Noting that the Maldives bore the brunt of the pandemic and the war heavily, the President remarked that the administration’s vigilant economic policies it has paved way for substantial economic recovery. Consequently, the forecasted economic growth percentage for the year stands at 12.3% while an additional 7.6% is expected for 2023.

Further elaborating on the statistics, the President said that the positive percentages are attributed to the swift recovery made by the tourism industry of the Maldives and that tourism arrival numbers have now incremented to pre-pandemic levels. He also recollected that the Maldives’ economy is ranked among the ten fastest-growing ones post-pandemic and stated that the country has been listed among the five fastest-growing economies across the globe in 2021 and 2022.

President Solih also spoke about the administration’s efforts to protect and conserve the environment. In his brief, he emphasized the government’s pledge to reach Net Zero by 2030 and promote renewable energy sources. In this regard, he shed light on the administration’s visionary goal to phase out single-use plastics (SUPs) in the country and noted that the Maldives cut down plastic imports by half in the previous year.