Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) on Sunday, announced its decision to update fish purchasing rates on a weekly basis.

MIFCO in a statement on Sunday said, purchasing fish from local fishers without referring to market rates, was not financially sustainable for the company’s fish processing and export activities.

The company incurs more expenditure, which include paying to fishers, and cost of processing and sales, compared to its earnings after selling the products in global markets.

Owing to continued deficits, MIFCO generally acquired cash injections through loans and government support.

MIFCO’s decision to shift to fluctuating prices based on market rates, it said is aimed towards achieving a permanent solution, and said the changes will be effective from Monday, July 01st onward.

The purchase rates of MIFCO will based on present market rates and export costs, with the prices reviewed on a weekly basis.

MIFCO also assured to pay the remaining outstanding total to local fishers on Monday, after which state would have settled MVR 353 million to fishers so far in 2024.

“Besides this, MIFCO has paid another MVR 389 million for fish sold, while it has dibursed a total of MVF 831 million inclusive of fuel and ice credit,” MIFCO’s statement read.

MIFCO’s announcement after the decision was revealed at the Public Accounts Committee of the parliament last Wednesday, where Minister of Finance Dr. Mohamed Shafeeq assured to price reviews will be discussed at the next Economic Council meeting.

With delays in settling the pending total to fishers, an emergency motion was submitted last week to the parliament seeking an expedited solution for the issue.

Source(s): sun.mv

Fitch has downgraded Maldives’ credit rating, citing obstructions to repay debts.

In this regard, Fitch downgraded Maldives’ Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC+’ from ‘B-‘.

Fitch attributed the downgrade risk associated with rising external debt coupled with weakening foreign reserves, external financing and liquidity metrics.

They detailed that Maldives’ foreign reserve, which stood at USD 748 million in May last year, had decreased to USD 492 million by May of this year.

Meanwhile, it was noted that the government has USD 233 million in sovereign external debt-servicing obligations and USD 176 million in publicly guaranteed external debt-servicing obligations due in 2024.

Fitch forecasts external debt servicing will climb to USD 557 million in 2025 and exceed USD 1.0 billion in 2026, including repayment of a USD 500 million Sukuk, which will intensify pressure on the government’s external liquidity.

Nevertheless, Fitch expects the government to rely on bilateral and multilateral financing support and the general state debt to rise to 117.6% of GDP in 2026 from an estimated 109.4% in 2023 – which is more than double the projected median for other ‘B’ category nations.

Fitch is amongst the biggest three credit ranking agencies in the world. Maldives was first ranked by the agency in 2016.

A credit rating is an evaluation of the credit risk of a prospective debtor predicting their ability to pay back the debt, and an implicit forecast of the likelihood of the debtor defaulting.

Source(s): sun.mv

Minister of Tourism Ibrahim Faisal has announced that efforts are underway to raise the budget of the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) to USD 15 million for 2025. This announcement was made during the ceremony marking the commencement of operations by China’s Chongqing Airlines to the Maldives.

Minister Faisal emphasised the government’s dedication to enhancing the tourism industry and highlighted the critical role MMPRC plays in this expansion. He expressed his vision of increasing MMPRC’s budget to USD 15 million, noting that the investment in tourism would significantly boost economic growth in the long term.

For this year, MMPRC’s approved budget was USD 9.99 million. The proposed increase for next year would raise the budget by USD 4 million.

Providing further insights, MMPRC Managing Director Ibrahim Shiuree discussed ongoing efforts to promote the Maldives on a global scale. He emphasized the importance of seeking opportunities for international advertising and mentioned that discussions with all relevant industry authorities would be conducted. Shiuree also highlighted the need to observe and learn from the strategies used by other competitive nations in promoting their tourism industries.

The Ministry of Tourism has revealed plans to advertise each individual island of the nation separately, ensuring that the unique features of every island are showcased. The ministry has also assured support for all efforts aimed at expanding the tourism industry across the entire nation.

Source(s): PsmNewsa