Male, Sep 5 (FN Bureau) The Maldives Monetary Authority on Wednesday announced a notable fall in the total foreign reserves of the country to USD 395.4 million by the end of July, media reports said. In its economic update for August 2024, MMA indicated a significant reduction, reported raajje.mv. The central bank’s economic update for August revealed the significant decrease in total revenue as compared to the previous year. In March 2024, Maldives saw an increase of 20 percent in total revenue, excluding grants.
In addition to this, MMA’s statistics revealed that the government’s debt remains a concerning issue. As such, by the end of the first quarter of 2024, the total government debt, excluding government-guaranteed debt, stood at MVR 112.2 billion. The central bank revealed that from the beginning of the year until July end, total exports had declined by eight percent, with the total imports increasing by four percent, according to reports. MMA cited the main reason for the decline in exports as a drop in the exports of locally produced goods.