Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameen has stated that an additional MVR 6 billion was needed for the Maldives to recover from the losses caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Minister Ameen made the statement while speaking during a press conference tonight, held by the Finance Ministry. He noted that the state revenue has seen a great decline due to the pandemic and that an additional MVR 6 billion is required to overcome the losses.

He noted that the funding for the budget has been MVR 5.9 billion but due to the pandemic, we are headed towards an economic crisis which will require an additional MVR 6 billion to overcome. The said funding will be sought through foreign monetary institutions, according to the Minister.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih previously 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.