News

USD 844 million paid, without currency printing: President

Published

6 days ago

24/06/2024

President Mohamed Muizzu announced that a total of USD 844 million has been paid to various parties without resorting to currency printing since he took office seven months ago. This statement was made during the inauguration ceremony of the main ruling party People’s National Congress (PNC)’s headquarters, PNC House.

During his speech, President Muizzu emphasised the economic progress achieved in the initial months of his administration. He highlighted significant efforts to implement the declared economic strategy, noting that positive outcomes are already evident. He proudly stated that his administration’s decision to halt money printing has been praised by international monetary agencies. Criticizing the previous administration for printing more money to cover state expenses, he argued that it was not the best course of action.

President Muizzu also mentioned that his administration has stopped taking loans with heavy repayment requirements. Instead, they have managed to pay public and private companies and make loan repayments from generated revenue without incurring new debt or printing more money. The government has repaid USD 259.8 million of the USD 584 million owed to private companies, USD 454.6 million to public companies, and spent USD 175 million on loan repayments. Additionally, when President Muizzu took office, the Sovereign Development Fund had USD 2 million. Over the past seven months, his administration has deposited USD 54 million into the fund.

Reiterating his administration’s commitment to achieving the development goals desired by the public, President Muizzu leveraged the party’s super majority in the parliament. He addressed opposition attempts to undermine the administration’s economic achievements, urging the ruling party to actively share the details of their work with the public through the PNC House.

President Muizzu concluded by affirming that his administration will work tirelessly to fulfill the economic agenda promised during the presidential campaign, maintaining a steadfast approach without any changes.

Source(s): PsmNews

News

Minister Saeed extends gratitude to ICBC for support

Published

10 hours ago

30/06/2024

Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed has extended gratitude to the management Industrial Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for support rendered to the Maldives.

Minister Saeed, as part of his ongoing official visit to China, visited the bank’s headquarters in capital Beijing on Saturday.

He added that the bank’s support affirmed the importance attached by the Chinese side to extend their full support to implement the consensus reached between the presidents of Maldives and China.

Minister Saeed’s visit to China was to attend the 15th World Economic Forum, held at the Dalian Congress Hall in Dalian Province, China, from June 25th to June 27th.

As part of this visit, he has also met with the management of People’s bank of China (PBC) during which both sides deliberated on ways to expand cooperation between the two nations.

Besides this, the Minister also met with the Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, for discussions related to the free trade agreement (FTA) between the Maldives and China.

The chief of this discussion was on establishing a currency settlement system between the two countries, to enhance trade and commerce ties.

It is a key priority of Dr. Muizzu’s administration to seek such currency settlement agreements with bigger economic allies and frequent trade collaborators, to enhance trade convenience.

Source(s): sun.mv

News

50 undocumented migrants handed over to Immigration

Published

10 hours ago

30/06/2024

50 undocumented migrants were handed over to the custody of Maldives Immigration on Saturday, during a joint operation carried out by the Immigration and Maldives Police Service on Saturday.

Police said the operation was focused on various areas of Male’ including the local market and other similar markets.

50 undocumented migrants were identified during the operation, noted the Police, adding all of them have now been handed over to the custody of Immigration.

As per the Police, Saturday’s operation was spearheaded by Immigration itself.

Home Minister Ali Ihusan said the issue of undocumented migrants would be resolved in three years under the recently launched ‘Operation Kurangi’.

However, he stressed that the goal is not to arrest and deport migrants, but to give them a chance to get regularized.

Notably, Maldives has recently halted the recruitment of unskilled laborers from Bangladesh due to illegal recruitment by submission of counterfeit documents.

Source(s): sun.mv

News

Customs nab MVR 1.6 mil worth smuggled cigarettes

Published

14 hours ago

30/06/2024

Maldives Customs Service has confiscated MVR 1.6 million worth of smuggled cigarettes.

Customs on Saturday said it recently conducted inspects in Male’ and Hulhumale’, as part of an investigation on alleged smuggled contraband.

The authority inspected one location from Hulhumale’ on Monday last week, and four venues from Male’ and Hulhumale’ later on Wednesday last week as part of the investigation.

173 cartons of 1,731,597 cigarettes were confiscated through Customs’ raids, with an estimated market value of MVR 1.6 million.

The duty on the now confiscated cigarette cartons is worth MVR 5.6 million, customs added.

Maldives Police Service and the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) both lended support in Customs’ operations. The authority thanked both law enforcement agencies for their support.

Source(s): sun.mv