Category: News in Brief

Finance Minister estimates budget deficit will reach MVR6billion

Minister of Finance and Treasury Abdulla Jihad has told parliament’s Finance Committee that this year’s budget deficit can be expected to be double the original estimate of MVR3billion (US$195million), reported Haveeru.

Jihad is said to have explained that the bulk of  the deficit came from unpaid bills left over by the previous government, amounting to MVR2billion (US$130million).

During the committee’s meeting, which continues regardless of the status of the Majlis (currently suspended), Jihad also said that an additional MVR800million (US$52million) had been paid out from this year’s budget.

He said that this year’s revenue is expected to be MVR11.5billion (US$746million), whilst total expenditure is MVR14.6billion (US$948million).

Meanwhile, he reported that state spending this year, MVR9billion (US$590 million), had outstripped earnings by 28percent.

These figures represent an improvement on the Finance Committee’s earlier estimates which, in May, had anticipated a deficit of MVR9.1billion (US$590 million) after meeting with Jihad.

The committee is also reported to have given the go ahead to take out a further US$25million loan from India.

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Ayyubey’s final heir calls for death sentence

Ali ‘Ayyubey’ Hassan’s final heir has asked for the death penalty for the underaged defendants in his murder trial, reported Haveeru.

Ayyubey, 76, was found murdered with multiple stab wounds on Kudahuvadhoo in January this year.

The victim had been accused of using sorcery on a 37 year-old woman, whose body had been found in the lagoon the previous month.

The Prosecutor General (PG) pressed charges against three men and three male youths – two of whom admitted the charges, whilst the third awaits the results of DNA tests.

The final of nine heirs opted for qisas (equal retaliation) in Addu Court rather than choosing to accept blood money.

This process is standard under Sharia law, although the President’s legal authority to commute death sentences to 25 years has resulted in a de facto moratorium on the death penalty since 1953.

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Ministry of Human Rights reserves posts for the disabled

The Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights has reserved three posts for people with disabilities and has urged other government departments to do the same, reports Sun Online.

The ministry is said to have reserved the position of Procurement Officer for a person with disabilities whilst two additional posts will be reserved for those with visual impairment.

Sun reported that the ministry drew attention to article 37 of the constitution which guarantees the right to work to all Maldivian citizens.

Private businesses have also been encouraged to follow the Ministry of Gender’s lead.

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Finance minister anticipates wage payment problems without Indian financing

Minister of Finance and Treasury Abdulla Jihad has told local media that the country may struggle to cover state wages and bills unless US$25 million in proposed financing from India is secured by next month.

Jihad reportedly told Parliament’s Finance Committee that balancing the national budget for the next two months would be “extremely difficult” without the US$25 million to support a US$17 Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan taken as budget support for the current month, according to the Sun Online news agency.

The Indian government had announced that it would be granting the Maldives an additional US$25 million as part of the US$100 million standby credit facility agreed last year under the previous government.

Jihad also told the committee that state reliance on Treasury Bills (T-bills) presently amounted to MVR5.3 billion, an additional deficit he said would need to be covered unless the short-term financing mechanism can be prolonged.

T-bills are sold by governments all over the world, serving as a short-term debt obligation backed by sovereign states. In the Maldives, T-bills are said by financial experts to have a maximum maturity of six months, in which time they must be repaid.

Sun quoted Jihad as saying that MVR300 million in T-bills had been received by the Madlvies Monetary Authority (MMA), though these were presently being held by the Finance Ministry owing to a “lack of sufficient cash flow”.

Jihad told Minivan News last week that the Maldives would need to brace for long-term austerity measures in order to address the country’s fiscal deficit – with further budget cuts anticipated in all government departments over the next 12 months.

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Raimmandhoo and Alifushi by-elections won by MDP, PPM candidates

A by-election for the vacant seat of Raa Atoll council seat for Alifushi over the weekend was won by Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) candidate Ibrahim Maheesh with 883 votes, narrowly defeating opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate Moomina Easafulhu with 827 votes, according to initial results.

Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) candidate Abdullah Shinan received 274 votes, while Jumhoree Party (JP) candidate Nasif Abdullah received five.

A by-election held for the island council seat of Raimmandhoo in Meemu Atoll was meanwhile won by MDP candidate Mohammed Ramiz, with 75 votes against DRP candidate Fathimath Liusha with 64 votes.

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“No risk of Al-Qaeda attack”: Home Minister

The Maldives is at no risk of an Al-Qaeda attack, Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed told local media following claims in the UK press by former President Mohamed Nasheed that the Maldives faced rising Islamic extremism.

“There is no basis to Nasheed’s claims. The Maldivian Security Forces are working round the clock with international agencies. The Police receive up to date intelligence information from those agencies. There is no information thus far of any danger to the Maldives from an Al-Qaeda attack,” Jameel was reported as saying.

“Nasheed is just trying to hog the headlines by referring to Islam as he has no more pitches to make in the political arena. Because if he claims that there are religious extremists in the Maldives, it would make it easier for him to attract the attention of the international community.”

“They are talking about alcohol-free resorts, about getting non-drinking tourists to come in from Iran. I can easily imagine holidaymakers being prosecuted for kissing in public, as in some Muslim countries,” Nasheed told the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.  The former president also noted recent calls from the country’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs to ban mixed-gender dancing, and dancing by adolescent girls.

“If the country is being radicalised every day, then the staff in the resorts, and their families, are being radicalised also. That must have some impact on the resorts in the medium and long term,” Nasheed warned.

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Maldives completes Japanese road-show as part of national promo tour

The Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (MMPRC) has this month completed a Japanese road-show taking in the cities of Fukuoka and Osaka, as part of wider push to bolster arrivals from the country.

Teaming up with the Maldivian travel groups, the MMPRC has said the tour, which concluded on September 9, formed part of plans to provide information to the Japanese press and tour operators ahead of the JATA Tourism Forum and Travel Showcase that concludes today in Tokyo.

An estimated 90 Japanese tour operators were involved in the road-show, according to the MMPRC.

The focus by local travel groups on the Japanese market comes as official travel figures released this month indicated arrival numbers to the Maldives between January and August this year totalled 614,802 people – an increase of 2.9 percent compared to the same period during 2011.

According to the same statistics, arrivals from Japan for the first eight months of the year totalled 22,534 – a figure down 0.3 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

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Maldives signs education MOU with Australia

Australia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Maldivian authorities to offer assistance in the field of education, local media has reported.

Edward Archibald, Counsellor from the Development Cooperation of AusAid, signed the agreement on behalf of the Australian government.

The agreement will involve Maldivian teachers receiving training from their Australian counterparts.

At the signing ceremony, Archibald highlighted the pre-existing links between the two countries in this sector – noting that 33 Maldivian were studying in Australia at the end of last year.

AusAid, Australia’s overseas aid department, announced its contribution of AUS$1million to the Maldives’ Climate Change Trust Fund (CCTF).

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MDP Chair would quit party over its excessive “restraint”

Chairman of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik has told local media that  he would consider quitting the party should it continue to take a “passive” approach to political opponents in the future.

He alleged that a previous strategy of “restraint” and “caring” has been qualities that had led political opponents to oust former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Local newspaper Haveeru has reported that Moosa, speaking to private broadcaster Raajje TV, claimed that while the MDP’s focus on “restraint” and “caring” had been an important focus whilst in government, it had not ultimately led to a “positive outcome” for the party.

He contended that, even in cases where religious scholars such as Sheikh Ilyas Hussan had “called for our heads”, the former government had shown restraint.

“But if we treated them strictly, maybe the outcome would have turned out differently,” he was quoted as saying.

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