Author: Mohamed Reehaan

The Kuwait Fund has signed on with Maldives government for the provision of additional financing for the Velana International Airport development project. Ministry of Finance on Monday, 12th July, reported that the signing took place between Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer and Nedhal A Al-Olayan, the Deputy Director General for Administration and Finance Affairs of Kuwait Fund. The arrangement will ensure Maldives state provisioned with an additional KWD15 million towards the expansion and upgrading project of the island nation’s main gateway.

The state expenditure has reached over MVR13 billion as of 01st July 2021, reports Ministry of Finance. In the latest update on the ministry’s “Weekly Fiscal Developments” it was reported that the cumulative total of state expenditure has reached precisely to MVR13,445.0 million (MVR13.4 billion). Meanwhile, the cumulative total of state revenue inclusive of foreign grants have reached up to MVR9,159.0 million (MVR9.2 billion). Moreover, the expenditure composition reveals 77% of the total spent on recurrent expenses while the remaining 23% had been spent towards capital expenses. On the other hand, 75% of the total revenue had been earned through…

Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) on Sunday, 11th July confirmed on their progress at Thaa atoll Guraidhoo harbor development project. According to the contractor, with the project underway, the scope of work have already observed an overall 60% progress. Furthermore, MTCC notified that rock boulder shipment, that will be utilized for breakwater construction had been delivered on 06th July, the previous week. MTCC had detailed on the project scope, revealing the components of the harbor development consist of dredging and excavation operations spanning 24,485 cubic meters. Meanwhile, the breakwater construction is expected to commence soon while the structure will…

Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) on Sunday, 11th July revealed their progress of the road construction project in Gnaviyani atoll Fuvahmulah. According to the contractor, the project consisting of the construction of the island city’s internal roads are well underway with n overall 50% progress progress. Moreover, MTCC was currently installing both the settlement tanks and electrical junction boxes – both of these tasks are at 71% and 70% completion, respectively. The project scope of works includes base preparation in a total area of 122,659 square meters as well as asphalt wearing course spanning 95,239 square meters in area.…

Bank of Maldives (BML) on Saturday, 10th July, announced on financially supporting to build a beach shed to enhance the Hulhumale’ beach library – “Foiy Gaadiya”. According to BML, they aim to provide a more permanent solution for the beach library from damages sustained during bad-weather days. The beach shed will attempt to shelter the contents of the beach library from such climatic interferences while “making the space more accessible for the community.” The project will see the Hulhumale’ beach library receiving a ‘makeover’ in the form of a traditional Maldivian hut – “Haruge” – that will shelter the books…

Ministry of Finance revealed official amendments to the remuneration of Managing Director and Deputy Managing Director positions of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). Moreover, the state body confirms the remunerations of MDs and DMDs of State-Owned Enterprises have been incremented post categorizing the SOEs in a specific hierarchy. The ministry in a circular to all the SOEs following their review of salaries and allowances of company board members, Chairman as well as MDs and DMDs said that the Managing Directors of the lowest tiered SOEs will receive an increment to their salaries between MVR10,000 to MVR15,000. Basic salaries of MDs and DMDs…

One of the most prominent airlines originating from the Middle-East, Qatar Airways, has increased their flight operations to Maldives. According to the airline, they will be operating four flights to Maldives on a daily basis ahead of Summer 2021. The airline further commented their decision was to meet the demand of expected increase in tourist arrivals to Maldives during the period. Recently it was reported that the airways had operated a total of 974 flight landings in Maldives since the border reopening in 2020 up until 30 June 2021. Moreover, Qatar Airways have flown a total of 80,250 tourists to…

Housing Development Corporation (HDC) on Thursday, 08th July, had announced their plans to sell plots of land from Second-Phase of Hulhumale’. Moreover, the corporation, under which the infrastructural development of the satellite town falls, notified that the sale of land will be carried at a rate of MVR4,800 per square-foot. HDC had earlier sold plots of land from the Second-Phase during 2017, which also  marks the last time the corporation had done so. Plots were sold on the basis of bids with the proprietor decided based on highest bids. Furthermore, during the earlier land-sale phase, HDC had made 92 plots…

Raysut Maldives Cement, the joint venture between State Trading Organization (STO) and Oman’s largest cement manufacturer, Raysut Cement Company (RCC) reports 55% growth of cement uptake in the first quarter of 2021. Moreover, the JV which had replaced LaFarge Cement Group in Maldives earlier, confirmed that the parent company recently became recipient to two European Union standard certifications; the CE and NF certifications. According to the company, the cement manufacturer received these credentials validating their adherence to the EU standards in cement production. Raysut Maldives further commented on observing a record sales peak in January and April in 2021. Moreover,…

The fiscal balance for the month of May 2021, weighing the state expenditure against state revenue, gives an overall deficit of MVR1,180.2 million (MVR1.2 billion). According to the latest Monthly Fiscal Developments from Ministry of Finance the state revenue inclusive of grants reached MVR996.5 million in May 2021, which is a 241.3% increment from the same month last year. Moreover, the ministry reported the revenue bump came majorly due to the improved performance of Goods and Services Tax (GST). The revenue composition further revealed that TGST took up 36.6% of the total state revenue share making it the strongest revenue…