Former Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer has accused President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration of secretly printing MVR 6.2 billion through back-door channels, despite explicit campaign pledges not to print money.
In a post on social media platform X, Ameer alleged that these transactions violate the spirit of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. He detailed that the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has already funnelled MVR 3.8 billion to the government through commercial banks.
Ameer characterised the remaining MVR 2.4 billion as illegally printed money. He explained that this was generated by the MMA buying T-bills previously held by the Maldives Pension Administration Office, which the government then reinvested in its own T-bills.
The former finance minister highlighted a stark contrast with his tenure during the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that while his administration transparently monetised funds with expert advice during a MVR 30 billion revenue drop and MVR 97 billion economic loss, the current government is secretly monetising funds at a time when state revenue has reached MVR 40 billion without any active economic or health crisis.
These allegations come as preparations near completion for the MVR 2.4 billion transaction. Under the plan, T-bills sold by the Pension Fund to the MMA will be reinvested into long-term reverse dual-currency bonds issued by the Finance Ministry.
The government and the Pension Office maintain that the deal will generate foreign currency reserves and yield high returns for stakeholders without needing to purchase dollars from the open market.
However, the transaction has sparked heavy internal resistance. The resulting controversy previously led to the resignations of several board members and senior officials at the Pension Office.
While the deal had been stalled due to a lack of senior staff willing to sign the required documentation, final steps are now moving forward following the appointment of Abdul Majeed Ali as the new board chairman.
