Maldives Faces Critical Shortfall in Usable Dollar Reserves

The gross international reserve was USD 509.1 million, an increase of USD 17 million from the previous month. However, after deducting unusable funds, the usable reserve fell to USD 66.9 million, below the estimated USD 75 million required for essential imports.

The situation was exacerbated by recent allocations for fuel imports and providing dollars to state-owned enterprises, causing the usable reserve to drop as low as USD 20 million. Former President Abdulla Yameen claimed that the reserve had fallen to USD 18 million, a figure that sources later corroborated.

The depletion of the reserve has been attributed to debt repayment, high global oil prices, and insufficient returns from significant economic and infrastructure investments. Despite the critical state of the reserves, government officials have not commented publicly, maintaining that ongoing reforms should alleviate financial concerns.