The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has warned the Ministry of Finance that the usable dollar reserves may run out before the end of August.
The government and the MMA have not officially confirmed the information, but reliable sources told Adhadhu that the central bank sent a letter to the ministry.
According to the latest data, gross international reserves stood at USD 395 million at the end of July. The reserves stood at USD 509 million at the end of June.
With the change in total reserves, the amount of usable reserves fell to USD 43 million. This is less than the amount needed for a month's essential imports.
Despite the depletion of the usable reserve, the government has yet to comment on the issue. No information was shared at the meeting of the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee held last week with officials from the Finance Ministry.
A senior government official told Adhadhu that the letter sent by MMA was a prediction of the worst-case scenario and that there was no need to worry as the government was prepared.
The reasons for the fall in the reserves include having to pay back the loans and securities sold to finance expenditures that do not meet the revenue and increasing expenditure on oil and other imports.
The MMA predicted that this situation could arise when the budget was proposed for this year. The MMA told the Budget Committee that difficulties would come if the government did not raise the money needed to cover the budget deficit early in the year.
The government is planning to raise some fees and taxes and introduce new taxes to increase dollar revenue. Airport departure fees and green tax are being increased while a new tax on sand for land reclamation is to be introduced.
