President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that the Maldives is on a list of top five countries that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts as the fast growing economies this year.

He made the remark in his Parliament this morning and shared the administration’s vision of increasing the country's GDP by 12 per cent, and attracting over 1.6 million visitors this year.

The President, in his address, highlighted the financial situation of the country stating that to manage the state reserve, the Maldives received a foreign currency swap of USD 250 million in July 2019 from the Reserve Bank of India. President Solih announced today that it was repaid on December 29, 2021, and he revealed that USD 447 million in debt incurred by the previous government was paid off last year. At the end of 2021, the state reserve stood at USD 791.2 million.

President Solih spoke extensively about the implementation of the minimum wage, officially introduced in November 2021, something which he described as having a positive effect on the lives of thousands of staff in all economic sectors. Speaking further on borrowing, President Solih extended his confidence in the administration’s healthy economic policies in managing debt. The President added that 2023 would be the year the Maldives’ economy would reach pre-pandemic levels.