President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said commodity prices have gone down despite the opposition's assertion of high prices.
Speaking during a campaign gathering in Meemu Mulah on Saturday night, Solih recounted economic shocks since he came to power in 2018.
He said that Maldives is among the 10 fastest growing economies since borders were reopened following the Covid pandemic nearly three years ago.
“The entire economy came to a halt and the state lost MVR 14 billion of its revenue that year. We had to raise money," Solih stated.
He claimed that the Maldives avoided an economic crisis because of the wise and timely decisions made by the government.
Solih noted that the Ukraine-Russia war which began in February 2022 had also impacted the economy by pushing up prices.
He said the government spent beyond the budget limit each month in order to ensure that prices remain affordable.
These measures will result in the economy doubling over the next five years, he claimed.
The President said he was envisioning the long-term impacts and that positive changes are already being seen.
"This year's [economic] growth was expected to be six percent, but today's estimate has increased to nine percent," he said citing predictions from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Solih further rejected opposition claims that prices were high, saying that prices remained low despite measures by the government.
“The measures taken by the government this year have kept inflation at 3.4 percent, compared to 9 percent in European countries," he said.
The government increased GST and TGST earlier this year. The Finance Ministry, IMF and the World Bank have forecast inflation would rise this year.
