State Debt Increases Again Totaling It Up To MVR 79.8 Billion

The latest statistics from the Ministry of Finance show that the Government of Maldives is in debt of MVR 79.8 billion as of right now.

At the end of the third quarter of last year, the external debt had shown to have raised up to MVR 38 billion whereas internal debt was calculated as MVR 41.7 billion. This makes the total debt percentage 138% of the GDP – 66% making up the external debt and 72% making up the internal debt. As of June, the GDP of Maldives was recorded at MVR 57.9 billion.

In 2019, the state debt was calculated as MVR 67.9 billion whereas the amount stood at MVR 60.2 billion in the year before.

When the COVID-19 hit the nation in 2020, the Government of Maldives took out multiple loans in order to cope with the expenditure as the main source of income to the country being from the tourism industry was not an option due to travel restriction imposed locally, as well as worldwide. Accordingly, the government made four overdrafts from the central bank whereas 18 loans were taken throughout the pandemic.