Public and public guarantee debt has reached MVR 118.9 billion, according to figures released by the Finance Ministry on Saturday.
The figures show that public and public guarantee debt rose to 110.9 percent of GDP as of September this year. That is MVR 118.9 billion.
According to the latest census figures, the per capita debt is about MVR 227,812.
The figures also show that the government has a foreign debt of MVR 50.9 billion while domestic debt stood at MVR 66.3 billion.
The government has taken out the most loans in 2020 during the Covid pandemic. The loans taken as Covid emergency support exceed USD 92 million, out of which, direct government debt stood at MVR 103.6 billion.
These include MVR 14.7 billion in buyer's credit, MVR 6.9 billion in multilateral, MVR 5 billion in bilateral, MVR 7.7 billion in other forms and MVR 1.5 billion in private enterprises.
Dr. Mohamed Muizzu who took oath of office on Friday expressed concern over high debt in his first speed as President.
Muizzu said the economy was in an abyss and that his government was facing the largest debt in the entire financial history of Maldives.
The President promised to take strong and rapid steps to revive the economy by increasing tourist arrivals with the completion of the main airport redevelopment project including a new terminal.
