The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) decided today to advise President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu to dismiss Ali Hashim as governor of the central bank, the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).
The dismissal of Governor Ali Hashim was proposed to the committee by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim, MP for Dhiggaru. It came after he accused Hashim of dereliction of duty during a debate on the fiscal responsibility bill at today's sitting of the Parliament.
Presenting the motion, MP Nazim said he was seeking the governor's removal over the MMA's alleged failure to properly implement monetary policy before the country's economy weakened to the point where a full recovery became difficult.
He noted three points, including:
- The indirect limiting of loans issued to the public from the country's banks and financial institutions as well as the governor's encouragement to keep the reserves of banks at the MMA
- The failure to regulate the domestic market despite the importance of doing so at a time when the government was raising funds from the domestic market
- Outdated MMA regulations being noted among challenges to combating crime
Under the MMA law, the Parliament could advise the President to remove the governor. A final decision would be made after the issue is brought to the Parliament floor for a vote.
Despite the Parliament commencing efforts to dismiss Hashim over alleged dereliction of duty, international financial institutions have not said that the problems facing the Maldivian economy were caused by flaws in monetary policy.
