Author: Mohamed Reehaan

The second quarter’s real Quarterly Gross Domestic Product (QGDP) in 2021 reached MVR15,421 million (MVR15.4 billion) at market prices. Moreover, according to the Maldives Bureau of Statistics, the quarterly GDP observed a growth of 75.3% during the review quarter when compared with the corresponding quarter in 2020. While the recovery was strong in terms of quarterly GDP during the first quarter, where the total at market price stood at MVR17,374 million (MVR17.4 billion), the country’s economy “hit a soft patch” during the second quarter. Furthermore, the growth in the quarterly GDP is mainly reflected by the positive contribution in the…

According to Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) the national reserves of the country increased by USD17.2 million by the end of August 2021. Furthermore, the central bank of Maldives informed that the gross national reserves of the country reached a total of USD874.3 million by the end of the review period. Earlier, the reserve total stood at USD857.1 million by the end of July 2021. The national reserve observed a significant improvement in the current year, as MMA reported that the reserve total stood at USD569.8 million during August in 2020, which was driven down due to the Covid-19 global impact.…

According to the latest Economic Update by Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) the rate of inflation measured by the annual percentage change in the national CPI, decelerated to 0.4% in August 2021. Moreover, the inflation rate against the percentage change in the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) decelerated from 0.9% in July 2021. Meanwhile, the monthly percentage change in the national CPI decelerated to 0.1% in August 2021, from 2.8% in July 2021. MMA reports that the largest contribution to the monthly rate of inflation came from vegetables at 0.12 percentage points, fruits at 0.11 percentage points, housing rent at 0.03…

The Maldives pavilion is open to welcome visitors at the Expo 2020 Dubai, while the country is represented at the pavilion by Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Tourism and Visit Maldives. The Expo 2020 Dubai or more commonly referred as World Expo, held at Dubai, United Arab Emirates will run for a six-month duration. The fair commenced on 01st October and will last until 31st March 2022. Moreover, this year’s expo theme is “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” while the fair provides a strong platform for exhibitors and industry affiliates to showcase destinations, latest innovations and detail out potential…

S Hotels and Resorts Public Company Limited, the flagship hospitality wing of Thailand’s Singha Estate PLC announces their step into the future, accepting payments in cryptocurrencies. Moreover, S Hotels and Resorts announced their partnership with FTX, one of the leading cryptocurrency trading platforms in the world, that will enable customers to book and pay for their stays using “virtual online currencies.” As such, the first properties under the S Hotels and Resorts that will welcome this new change will be the SAii Lagoon Maldives and Hard Rock Hotel Maldives, situated at the first integrated resort island; CROSSROADS Maldives. Furthermore, the…

Maldives Border Miles announces the introduction of free VIP services to the program’s Abaarana category members. Moreover, the Abaarana category is the ‘Gold Tier’ of the Maldives Border Miles programs and the members must “earn four-thousand points” to achieve this tier. The VIP service provides eligible members to relax at the Maamahi Executive Lounge upon arrival to Maldives. The Maamahi Executive Lounge is a top-notch resting and relaxing avenue with “plenty of refreshements, a mini duty-free shop” and free Wi-Fi connectivity. Interested travelers can enroll in the rewards program via bordermiles.mv/login and experience additional benefits when traveling to Maldives. Furthermore,…

Ministry of Finance reveals the total Green Tax collection for the month of July 2021 reached over MVR28.2 million. Furthermore, according to the Green Fund Report by the ministry, the exact total in Green Tax for the review month is MVR28,188,173.98 (MVR28.2 million). Moreover, the total Green Tax earnings from tourist resorts, hotels and guesthouses reached MVR27,834,809.09 (MVR27.8 million) in July, while the total Green Tax revenue from liveaboards and safari vessels for the review month stood at MVR353,364.89. In terms of Green Tax earnings from atolls, Kaafu atoll observed the highest earning which stood at MVR10,494,622.25 (MVR10.5 million). The…

According to the latest update by Ministry of Finance to their Weekly Covid-19 Spending Report, the government’s spending towards Covid-19 efforts remain largely unchanged from previous week. Moreover, the total health and social spending as of 23 September stood at MVR2,109.4 million (MVR2.1 billion) which is just a 0.09% increment from the previous week. During the review week, 33.7% of the total health and social spending were committed-spending. Meanwhile the total disbursements made towards Economic Response Plan (ERP) schemes stood at MVR1,773.4 million (MVR1.8 billion) by the review week, which remains unchanged from the week before. While the National Social…

The cumulative total of state expenditure as of 23rd September 2021 reached MVR20,718.5 million (MVR20.7 billion), reported Ministry of Finance. Moreover, the ministry had confirmed in their latest Weekly Fiscal Development that the cumulative total of state revenue reached MVR12,907.7 million (MVR12.9 billion) as of the review period. According to the state body, the expenditure composition reveals 77% of the total expense were concentrated towards recurrent needs and the remaining 23% towards capital expenses. On the other hand, revenue composition reveals 73% of the total earnings to the state came from tax sources and the remaining 27% from non-tax sources.…

Visit Maldives has commenced destination marketing in India to promote the island nation’s tourism industry. Moreover, the destination promoter along with industry partners have taken to two major events in order to promote the country’s tourism industry. The events include a one-day roadshow organized by Visit Maldives on 27th September, Monday at Novotel Ahmedabad. In addition to this, the promoter will take part from 29th September to 01st October at the Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) held at the Physical Fair, Nehru Centre, Worli, Mumbai. The fair is hailed as one of the biggest tourism oriented events in India. Furthermore,…