Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer has stated that tourist arrivals will decrease up to 50% this year.

Speaking at the National Emergency Operation Center press conference, the Finance Minister said that while 1.7 million tourists visited the Maldives last year, the COVID-19 pandemic has effected the tourism industry and the annual number of tourists visiting the country will go down by 50 percent this year.

He said that the GDP is also estimated to go down by 5.7 percent or lower this year and the state income would lose MVR 12 billion.

The Finance Minister said that the pandemic is going to bring an economic recession and while the government spending is being cut down by MVR 1 billion, it is expected to be cut down further. However, no ongoing projects will be affected by it according to Minister Ameer.