Author: Mohamed Reehaan
The Maldives inflation hikes 0.95 percent in annual terms according to the Maldives Statistics Bureau. The primary Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator, which gauges rise of the price on goods, shows this increment last year with the steepest price incline felt in cosmetics, which jumped 4.48 percent. Price on beverages saw a 2.45 percent increase while price on foods saw 0.43 percent increment annually. Oil and related commodities saw price drop last year owing to positive price performances in the global market. Oil and gas prices in the Maldivian market saw a drop of 1.02 percent as a result. While…
According to the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure, more than 1600 applications have been submitted to the designated portal for the new social housing scheme within first week of its announcement. The ministry’s statistics show a total of 1,160 applications for housing units (apartments) and another 456 applications for land plots. The ministry also adds that another 7,605 remain in draft stages within the portal. Maldives government announced applications for 7,900 flats and 15,000 land plots of 1,250 square feet each under the scheme. While Male’ citizens are eligible, applicants from other islands are eligible if their duration of…
The Bank of Maldives (BML), on Sunday, January 25th announced enabling its Bulk Payment service for businesses. This new service, the bank adds, is an enhancement for local businesses to conveniently process large-scale payments in bulk, including salaries, allowances and dividends. The bank further adds this service will facilitate businesses to adopt and benefit from automated bulk payments in both MVR and USD directly to multiple BML accounts. “The ability to process bulk transactions digitally is an important step towards supporting businesses in their operations, making payments faster, more secure, and hassle free. This is a part of our continued…
Since the state began collecting Zakat-al-Mal, the highest Zakat collection was made last year according to Maldives Zakat House. The Maldives Zakat House on Thursday, revealed statistics that shows the total collection for the past five years. The figures confirm that the annual Zakat-al-Mal collection had seen an average of over MVR 90 million each year, from 2021 to 2025. Zakat-al-Mal Collection | 2021 – 2025: 2021: MVR 91.4 million 2022: MVR 92.7 million 2023: MVR 90.2 million 2024: MVR 102.3 million 2025: MVR 107.2 million The Maldives Zakat House had revised the ‘nisab’ for Zakat-al-Mal on December 21, last…
Visit Maldives Corporation (VMC) is currently showcasing at the first travel exhibition of this year. The premier tourism promotion board of Maldives is promoting the country’s hospitality and tourism offerings at FITUR 2026 which will run from January 21st to 25th in Madrid, Spain. Visit Maldives on its official website adds this travel trade fair provides “optimal environment for networking, industry engagement, and business development, attracting over 50,000 trade participants and exhibitors.” The tourism promoter further adds this fair helps Maldivian tourism industry stakeholders to engage with relevant international travel trade businesses and professionals. Visit Maldives is promoting the country’s…
STO Construction Solutions commences its “Roadha Sale” ahead of this year’s Ramadan. STO holds the promotional event every year ahead of the Islamic calendar month, with the aim of providing fast-moving and high-demand appliances and other items to consumers. Traditionally Maldivians redecorate and refurbish their households ahead of Ramadan, which subsequently, draws up demand for home furnishing equipment and furniture as well. STO Construction Solutions has partnered with popular local power tools retailer, Veliga Hardware for this year’s promotion. Veliga Hardware Director Zaid Mohamed officiated the promotion on January 21st at STO Construction Solutions’ showroom. According to STO, customers will…
Dr. Abdulla Muththalib, the Maldivian Minister of Housing on Wednesday, announced the government’s plan to develop 12,000 new housing units in 2026. The minister made the remarks during a state-run Public Service Media’s program. During said program, the minister recalled the government’s recent contract with the Bank of Maldives (BML) to develop 3,272 housing units – which is already in progress. The project entails development of 312 units in Vilimale, 546 units in Hulhumale’ Phase 1 and 2414 units in Hulhumale’ Phase 3. “Site mobilization for the project will commence this month, with expected project completion in two years,” said…
The Maldives President, Dr. Mohamed Muizzu earlier on January 15th made the announcement of a major change to the government’s structure. On Thursday last week, the President’s Office confirms the Maldivian head of state’s decision to abolish the National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT) and replace it with the Maldives Digital Service. According to President’s Office, this new authority will operate under the administrative oversight of the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology. NCIT’s dissolution and the establishment of MDS are pursuant to Article 116(a) of the Maldives Constitution, which grants President the discretion to issue such directives. President’s Office…
The most recent updates from the Ministry of Finance confirms the current government concluded 2025 with a deficit of MVR 3.48 billion. As per the latest statistics from the ministry, the government spent MVR 43.12 billion last year out of the approved MVR 49.2 billion state budget. As for earnings, while projections put the annual income at MVR 39.8 billion, government earned MVR 39.6 billion by the year-end. Revenue Breakdown: Tax Revenues: MVR 29.2 billion Non-tax Revenues: MVR 10.04 billion Grants: MVR 415.2 million Looking at the total revenues of the state last year, tax revenues increased from MVR 26.4…
The tourism industry of the Maldives is off to a spectacular start in 2026 as the country attracts more than 120,000 so far in January. Statistics from the Ministry of Tourism shows an annual increment of 10% in arrivals in comparison to the same period last year. This increment trajectory remains the same when the two years before are factored in as well. As per statistics, tourist arrivals for the same period in 2025 stood at 117,000. Russia is the top tourist market to the Maldives so far this year with more than 20,000 arrivals. Italy is the second strongest…