Gov’t Will Resort to Printing Money, Ameer Warns

Former Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer has claimed that the government will resort to printing money within this month, stating that it will be unable to sustain itself without taking this action.

Rumours have suggested that the government is working on raising MVR 15 billion by selling a large plot of land in Hulhumalé to the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

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Speaking on SSTV’s ‘Baaru Hathareh’ programme on Sunday night, Ameer expressed his belief that the government’s current trajectory indicates it will be unable to avoid printing money. He criticised the government’s failure to introduce significant reforms to control state spending, resulting in expenses exceeding the allocated budget.

Ameer pointed out that, with no access to foreign funding, the government has turned to the domestic market for financial support. However, he noted that the funds available in the Bank of Maldives (BML) and state-owned enterprises have already been invested, leaving the government with no other option but to print money.

Ameer further alleged that the government was attempting to cover expenses by printing MVR 15 billion, which would be injected into the state via the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).

He also claimed that MMA’s board had approved the decision to print money based on misinformation. Ameer added that the deputy governor and two board members resigned after uncovering the truth behind the decision. He emphasised that government officials with technical expertise on such matters strongly opposed the move to print money.

The former finance minister expressed his frustration, highlighting the government’s efforts to print money by misleading the public, despite having strongly opposed such a measure during the presidential campaign.