Author: Mohamed Reehaan

Maldives Minister of Economic Development Mr. Fayyaz Ismail has claimed that significant changes will become apparent in the island nation’s economy in the upcoming days with price of US Dollars expected to become cheaper. The cabinet minister made the assertion while speaking at ceremony held on Friday at Komandoo to launch campaign efforts for a ruling party candidate running for the said constituency under the parliamentary seat by-elections. At the ceremony, minister Mr. Ismail had noted on various accomplishments of the incumbent administration during the past year including execution of water and sewerage projects over 100 residential islands. In addition…

State Electric Company (STELCO) signed an agreement with Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) last week to provide power to main airport island of the Maldives – Hulhule’. STELCO confirmed the news on Thursday, 06th January 2022 while the agreement was signed between the utility provider’s Managing Director Mr. Hassan Mughnee and the Acting In-Charge of MACL Mr. Ibrahim Thoha. At the signing ceremony, Mr. Mughnee emphasized on STELCO’s dedication and commitment to answering the requirements of the public and nation as a whole. Furthermore, he also asserted that the utility provider is one of the foremost contributors to the country’s…

State Trading Organization (STO) signs a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment to initiate a new apprenticeship program. The signing ceremony took place on 04th January 2022, Tuesday while the ministry’s State Minister Mr. Hussain Ismail, who officiated the signing ceremony attended the event alongside the ministry’s Deputy State Minister Mr. Mohamed Nasih. Meanwhile, Ms. Mariyam Nuzla, General Manager, People’s Operations Department of STO had attended the signing on behalf of the state-owned enterprise. The arrangement between the entities aim to ensure provision of apprenticeship and guidance to newcomers under the supervision of experts…

Velana International Airport (VIA) reports of a record air traffic movement in 02nd January 2022. According to the primary international air gateway of the Maldives, the airport recorded a total of 826 movements on Sunday earlier this week. The news was confirmed through the official Twitter handle of Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) in which the company attested that on Sunday, a total of 233 runway movements and 593 seaplane movements were recorded. Moreover, MACL had further attested that the previous record movement of air traffic was observed on 05th January 2020 during which the movement reached 811. While air…

Maldives has welcomed the very first tourist visitor of 2022 with a special welcoming ceremony held at Velana International Airport (VIA) on Saturday morning, 01st January. Meanwhile, Visit Maldives had corroborated that Ms. Georgina Canning, who was traveling to Maldives via Gulf Air (Flight number: GF144) around 06:10hrs on Saturday morning was greeted by senior officials from the Ministry of Tourism, Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) along with senior members of Maldives Immigration and Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL). Ms. Canning was accompanied on her trip by her partner while this marks her second visit to the island…

As per the most recent statistical updates from Ministry of Tourism, over 1.3 million holidaymakers arrived to the Maldives as of 29th December 2021. From the 01st to 29th December 2021, the total tourist arrivals reached 155,053 observing a 71.0% increase when compared with the same period in 2020 where the arrival total stood at 90,683. However, when compared with the same period in 2019 the arrivals in 2021 were still 4.2% below. From 01st to 29th December in 2019, the arrivals to Maldives stood at 161,801. On the other hand, the year-to-date total tourist arrivals (from 01st January until…

According to the latest fiscal developments from Ministry of Finance, Maldives government has spent a total MVR32,024.9 million (MVR32.0 billion) as of 23rd December 2021. Moreover, the approved expenditure for the fiscal year of 2021 was MVR33,431.5 million (MVR33.4 billion). As of 23rd December, state had spent 95.79% of the approved expense budget. On the other hand, state has earned a total of MVR19,009.3 million (MVR19.0 billion) as of review week. The projected revenue inclusive of foreign grants for the year 2021 is MVR21,128.5 million (MVR21.1 billion). As of 23rd December, state had earned 89.97% of the projected revenue. Meanwhile,…

For years State Electric Company (STELCO) has been an exclusive synonym to utility provision. Many would only attribute the company’s long running history only to the distribution of electricity across the Maldives. Decades passed until another state company in the name of Fenaka Corporation came to inception with a similar vision. While the younger utility provider has gone ahead to make headlines for their various achievements and corporate expansion, STELCO had remained comparatively stifled and stagnant. However, this is no longer the case and it is apparent with the forward thinking vision of the state-owned corporttion’s incumbent Managing Director Mr.…

Tourist arrivals and bed-nights increased substantially in November 2021 compared to the same month in 2020 while it had exceeded pre-pandemic levels in November 2019. According to Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) in their latest economic update the tourit arrivals rose to 144,725 in 2021 which is a 5% increment compared to November 2019 during which the tourist arrivals stood at 137,921. Meanwhile, tourist bed-nights registered a growth of 19% during the period. The annual increase in tourist arrivals reflected the base effect of slow pick-up in tourist arrivals in November 2020 post the border reopening and the surge in arrivals…

According to Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) as per advance estimates of the quarterly national accounts the country’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rebounded strongly by 75.3% in Q2-2021. The rebound of the Maldivian GDP is compared to the corresponding period in 2020, after a decline of 10.1% in the first quarter 2021. Although making a bounce back during the second quarter of the current fiscal year, the growth of GDP is still 15.9% below pre-pandemic levels in Q2-2019. Moreover, the rebound in the annual GDP growth during the review quarter is mainly driven by the significant surge in the tourism…