The Maldives nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to exceed MVR100 billion for the first time ever, said the Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer.
The minister tweeted, stating that this was a “testament to the sound macroeconomic policies adopted by the government to achieve steady growth despite the multiple crises” the Maldives faced.
He also noted that despite the challenges posed by the Russia-Ukraine war and the outbound travel restrictions by China due to the Covid-19 pandemic, tourist arrivals increased 26.7% in 2022 compared to 2021. Moreover, this represents a recovery of 98.4% of the pre-pandemic levels observed in 2019.
The minister said that driven by strong performance in the tourism and other related sectors, the real GDP growth for 2023 is expected to increase from the previous forecast of 7.6% to 9.4%.
Moreover, he noted that the tourism sector is continuing to perform well in 2023, with arrival numbers at 17.5% higher compared to the same period last year. He noted that with new flight routes and recovery of the Chinese market, the arrival forecast has increased from 1.81 million to 1.93 million in 2023.