President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that he does not intend to reduce civil service salary, nor to stop any infrastructure development in the wake of Covid-19.

The President made the statement during his address to the nation regarding the current situation of Covid-19 in the Maldives. He further stated that steps are being taken to further reduce government expenses.

Steps taken to reduce expenses outside of PSIP include stopping unnecessary travels from government institutions as well as repairs and miscellaneous work.

In his address, he assured that he does not intend to reduce civil service salary even though an outbreak of Covid-19 in the Maldives is feared. He further added that the state is working not to halt any of the developmental projects that have already begun.

He revealed that the state initially projected a 7 per cent increase in tourism for this year and estimated a GDP growth of 7.5 per cent. However due to the repercussions of Covid-19 on the Maldivian economy, new estimates put the GDP growth rate anywhere between 0.5 per cent and -5.6 percent

Due to this, the projected state revenue will be short of about MVR 2.1 billion to MVR 6.9 billion.