President Mohamed Muizzu has said the government will pay billions owed to private companies by the end of this year and continue to pay bills within 14 days.
A woman complained about the unpaid bills when Muizzu met the people of Mahchangolhi district in Male' city on Tuesday night.
Although he did not respond to many of the people's complaints, Muizzu responded to the woman's concerns as he had failed to fulfill the promise to pay bills.
On October 2, Muizzu said the bills would be paid within five weeks. But he later said his announcement was to begin paying the bills in five weeks.
Last night, he told the woman that the bills will be paid before the end of this year.
Muizzu blamed the previous government for creating a backlog of unpaid bills to private companies. The outstanding amount was MVR 2 billion when Muizzu became President.
But the Auditor General's Office recently said Muizzu's administration has accrued a debt of MVR 5 billion in the last two years as unpaid bills to private companies.
