The Finance Ministry has decided to hide the amounts of the Sovereign Development Fund (SDF) investing in state securities every month and the amount in cash.
The SDF is a fund established to maintain investors' confidence in the repayment of debts taken by the government and to save money to repay the debt. However, both the previous government and this government have been using the dollars in the fund to invest in state securities.
Adhadhu filed a Right to Information (RTI) request seeking details of the government's investment in state securities using the SDF.
In response to the RTI, the Finance Ministry shared the total amount in the fund as of each month and the total amount invested in T-bills and bonds. However, the finance ministry declined to disclose the amount of cash not invested and the amount spent on investments in T-bills and bonds each month.
Adhadhu was dissatisfied with the response and filed an appeal at the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICOM), where the ministry’s information officer at a hearing said the decision was taken to maintain investor confidence. He said this is the way it is being done in other countries.
"The review committee has responded in the standard which we use to publish. We look at other countries and the department said the total fund size is the information that is released in other countries as well," the information officer said.
The ministry said the reason for not disclosing the amount of individual investments is that they are sensitive business information. The information officer said releasing this information may cause difficulties in selling government securities in the future.
“We cannot disclose details of individual investments because it is sensitive information, investors’ sensitive information, and consequently, if we release that information, we may face difficulties in selling government securities in the future,” he said.
Defending the Finance Ministry's stand, the Information Officer said the investment was a business transaction. The country's financial situation will also be adversely affected by the difficulty in selling securities, the ministry said.
The Finance Ministry made the same points regarding the amount of cash. The information is also "investor sensitive" information and none of this information can be released, the information officer said. He said the information now released was given to the widest extent possible.
Although claiming cash amounts is sensitive information, the ministry has previously disclosed this figure.
According to the Finance Ministry, the SDF stood at MVR 8.8 billion as of last year. This includes USD 233 million and MVR 5.2 billion.
Of the dollar amount, USD 195 million was invested in securities. The remaining USD 37 million includes amounts invested in fixed deposits and cash.
MVR 1.4 billion was added to the fund in one year. This is less than the USD 100 million the government said it would raise. The dollar increased by USD 62.79 million during the period.
