Total debt under President Mohamed Muizzu has reached MVR 44 billion over the past two years and seven months, according to figures compiled by Adhadhu.
The total covers foreign loans, state-guaranteed loans and domestic market securities. The figures come from the Ministry of Finance's Weekly Fiscal Development reports and official debt and loan guarantee records.
They show the government leaned heavily on the domestic market to cover its budget deficits. It raised MVR 27.6 billion at home through Treasury Bills (T-bills), Treasury Bonds and Islamic financial instruments. Commercial banks bought the largest share at MVR 15.8 billion, followed by the Pension Fund at MVR 5.5 billion and state-owned enterprises at MVR 4.6 billion.
Much of that domestic borrowing was in US dollars. To raise dollars, the government issued reverse dual-currency T-bills, in which principal is repaid in USD and interest in MVR, along with USD Treasury Bonds.
The pattern has shifted away from short-term MVR T-bills towards long-term USD bonds. USD bond debt grew from $403.6 million (MVR 6.2 billion) to $848.8 million (MVR 13 billion) under this administration. Banks invested $287.7 million (MVR 4.4 billion) and SOEs $157.4 million (MVR 2.4 billion).
Even with the rise in domestic borrowing, net security debt grew by MVR 19.9 billion. That is because the government settled a $500 million (MVR 7.6 billion) Sukuk issued under former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, paying it off in full in March.
The administration also signed 17 new loans worth $594.7 million (MVR 9.1 billion). These include refinancing for earlier Chinese loans, funding to complete the new Velana International Airport terminal, funding for the fisheries sector, and a recent oil import financing facility.
State-guaranteed debt totals six facilities worth $493 million (MVR 7.6 billion), excluding a settled $400 million currency swap with the Reserve Bank of India. Most of the remaining guarantees, including a $300 million (30 billion INR) swap portion, were issued for the State Trading Organisation (STO) to cover three financing facilities worth $193 million (MVR 2.9 billion).
The Finance Ministry first projected that the total public debt would reach MVR 158.8 billion by the end of the year. Analysts expect it to rise, citing a repayment deferral on an MVR 1.5 billion loan from the Abu Dhabi Fund and higher financing demands linked to the conflict in Iran.
The debt has kept climbing even though Muizzu took office promising to rein in public borrowing and enforce fiscal discipline.
