Haifa Ahmed, head of investment at the Maldives Pension Administration Office, resigned today while the Pension Fund is in the middle of an MVR 2.4 billion investment transaction.
Adhadhu understands that another management-level employee at the Pension Office resigned alongside Haifa. Their identity is not yet known.
Sources who spoke to Adhadhu say both resignations are connected to the bond purchase.
The CEO, the CFO, the chairperson of the Pension Board and several board members have already resigned over the same deal.
The purchase was arranged by selling rufiyaa treasury bills the fund had bought earlier on the secondary market and using the proceeds to purchase the bond. The buyer of those T-bills on the secondary market is the central bank, the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).
The Pension Fund says the transaction is meant to diversify its investments and open a route to dollar income for beneficiaries.
Everyone who has opposed the deal says it will damage the fund and the wider economy in the short and medium term. They also agree that it amounts to money printing.
Staff at the Pension Office have grown uneasy about the transaction. Management sent a memo today warning that any employee who leaks information will be sacked.
