Central Bank Maldives Monetary Authority MMA has released an overdraw of MVR 2.7 billion to the government.
This was confirmed by the statistics published by the central bank.
The bank released the overdraw after the parliament approved the finance ministry’s request for the overdraw of MVR 4.2 billion last April.
The Ministry presented the request for an overdraw at the parliament to ensure continuity in public services and functioning of state institutes amid the viral pandemic outbreak - which has severely affected the country's economy.
The Ministry has also gestured that it wants to increase the overdraw as the pandemic had depleted the job market in the country and has decreased the aggregate demand in the economy.
It also said that with the disruption in international travel amid the pandemic and the decrease of oil and commodity prices in the global market, the demand for foreign currency is not expected to increase in the future.
The Covid-19 pandemic had left the island nation’s economy in tatters as the country’s mainstay; the tourism sector was brought to a standstill amidst the pandemic. But the government is working to open up borders and welcome back tourists next month and had promised to set strict rules and regulations to safeguard the country from imported cases of the pandemic once tourism opens up.
