Ex-pres Solih backs his policies to revive flailing economy
This government is also not telling the truth about the situation of the Sovereign Development Fund, Solih said.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
The former President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih on Wednesday called on the government to maintain and implement the policies made by his government to stabilise the economy.
In a special segment of the ‘Fashaairu’ show aired on Raajje TV to mark the 19th anniversary of the MDP, Solih on Wednesday spoke about the future of the main opposition MDP. He also spoke about the economic situation in Maldives.
In addition, he responded to this government's claims that the government has no money and the country was in debt after his regime. He highlighted the economic challenges faced by his government and the policies adopted to overcome them.
Solih said incumbent President Mohammed Muizzu's claims about the economic situation in Maldives when the government changed hands are "deceptive and blasphemous lies". Even if the government changes every five years, Maldives is a ‘live’ country and the affairs of the country will continue, he said.
Solih said the economy was not very good when he took over the government in 2018 and faced various challenges in running the state. He said his policies were implemented with patience and sound strategies.
As such, Solih noted:
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When he first came to power, the fishermen had to be paid four months' dues which had not been given by the previous government; the government had paid more than MVR 5 billion to fishermen in five years
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The previous government had to pay more than MVR 2 billion to various other parties
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In the first days after taking office, he faced the problem of not being able to pay government salaries; he sought foreign aid to manage it
Solih said the government was able to run its affairs thanks to generous assistance from Saudi and Abu Dhabi funds and neighbouring countries such as India.
This government is also not telling the truth about the situation of the Sovereign Development Fund, he said. As such, he said:
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At the end of last year, it was USD 140 million
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Most of the money is invested in banks
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The benefits are already available
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The total size of the SDF is more than MVR 6 billion
“The target was to have USD 600 million in the fund by 2026. If we'd done what we'd planned, it would have happened,” Solih said.
Solih also said that his government's policy is being implemented by the current government as well, as a solution to the problems plaguing the fishing industry. He said that during his tenure, efforts were made to achieve a capacity of 1,200 tonnes to store fish in the Maldives. That's one thing that should be done today, Solih said.
Noting that his government had good plans to get a fair price for the fish caught, Solih urged the current government to follow it.
Instead of the raw fish that is now being exported to Thailand, processing fish in Maldives and selling fish products to places like Europe was initiated by the then government and Solih asked the current government to continue with it. Without doing so, we will not be able to get the same price for fish in the country, he said.
As a result of his work:
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When the regime changed, negotiations were underway with Europe and the UK to reduce the 22% tax on fish; the discussions had started and the discussions had been held in the parliament
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It was hoped that the duty would be cut in January or February last year
“We had said at the time that if there is a positive change in the discussion between the UK and Europe, the fishermen will get the price they want for the fish they caught. Today, it's not possible because we don't talk about it. At the same time, the state's expenditure is still very high,” Solih said.
Another mistake made by this government was to separate MIFCO from STO, he said. Instead, if STO had been kept as a subsidiary, the situation would have been better, he said.
"It was a mistake. So what the current government should do now is cut government expenditure. Cut political positions. Cut the MVR 150, 200 million spent on salaries. Cut recurrent expenditure," he said.
“These are still tough times following the COVID impact. It's not something that can be solved in one go. We had a plan on how to deal with it from 2021 to 2028. These policies should have been implemented now. Instead, it seems that even the projects that have been started are being stopped and they are trying to do something completely different”.
