Pres Muizzu instructs fewer foreign trips to cut costs
"The way some political leaders are talking about it, it seems as if all the outstanding debts were accrued by us, since we came to power".
By
Shahudha Mohamed
President Mohammed Muizzu has said that all ministries and state-owned companies have been asked to completely stop their overseas travel in order to reduce the cost of running the government.
He said this while speaking to the people of GDh. Faresmaathoda about the state of the government.
"Now I will have decided, all ministries and all companies have been instructed not to spend except the most essential," he said, referring to the measures being taken by the government to cut costs.
He noted that:
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The government can bear the necessary expenditure on development projects
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Expenditure must be reduced on everything else; for example, travel abroad has now been ordered to stop
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The President assured that such expenses would no longer be incurred by any government ministry or company
“We will also try to make our trips to the islands as cost effective as possible in the future,” he said.
The President has been accompanied by a large number of ministers and politicians on his trips abroad and to the atolls, and while he made this statement on Tuesday, he is being criticised by the public for it.
The increasing costs of his travels have been noted. People have expressed their dissatisfaction on social media saying that Vice President Hussain Mohammed also makes many trips abroad.
'This is a situation created by the previous government'
Today, Maldives' financial situation is so bad because the huge debts that have not been paid over the past five years have been inherited with the change of government, said Muizzu. He said that when he took over the government:
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The previous government's outstanding debt to the people and people's companies amounts to MVR 9 billion
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The amount of money owed abroad also amounts to MVR 120 billion
"The way some political leaders are talking about it, it seems as if all the outstanding debts were accrued by us, since we came to power. That's not the case," he said.
"The economy has fallen into such a big ditch because [the previous government] did not pay the money I mentioned”.
The President said the government is working to repay debts by cutting expenditure and increasing projects and investments without printing any more money.
"In the last five years, they printed more money than they had in the previous 40 years. It was very irresponsible. The value of the money fell. The economy fell into a ditch in many ways," he said.
However, this government took over knowing that and the President assured that it would continue to fulfil the responsibility entrusted by the people with honesty and integrity. As such, he said:
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During the last three months the printing of money was stopped altogether; money will not be printed in Maldives after January 1
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Millions in debts owed to public individuals and public companies have already been paid
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also approved of our economic reform agenda
“If we continue like this [in accordance with the government’s plan] in the coming days, if we are also bringing development, paying off debts, strengthening the economy and opening doors for more money to enter the economy then we will see prosperous days,” he said.
