Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer has stated that although the national reserve has been decreasing, the reserve will have USD 690 million by the end of the year.

Minister Ameer made the remarks while speaking at a press conference held at President's Office on Thursday to discuss the economic status of the Maldives. He noted that a lot of countries are facing decrease in reserves due to increasing fuel prices globally.

"The national reserve is decreasing more than we estimated. This is not just happening in the Maldives, but to a lot of countries globally due to rising fuel prices," Minister Ameer said.

He added that preventive measures have been taken to minimise the impact on the national reserve due to increase in fuel prices.

As such, he added that Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has a currency swap facility with South Asian Association for Regional Corporation (SAARC) for USD 200 million, as well as a USD 400 million currency swap facility. He further added that a USD inflow is expected as part of the works with multilateral agencies.

"Therefore, by the end of this year, we estimate that the national reserve will be on par with the budgeted estimate for the year," Ameer said.

Minister Ameer also stated that the administration decided to change the USD funds under the Sovereign Development Fund (SDF) to MVR after discussions with MMA, and that the state is currently in discussion with MMA to change the MVR to USD once again.