Governor of Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) Ali Hashim has stated that the usable reserve of the country can be calculated from the statistics published by the authority.
The governor made the remarks while speaking at the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts, in response to a question on the usable reserve. The question was raised after President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih told reporters last week that the usable reserve is not a published figure.
Responding to the committee, Governor Hashim said the usable reserve can now be calculated through the statistics that are regularly published by the authority. The governor said the policy on publishing the usable reserve figure was revised following a recommendation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and although the figure is not published separately, it can be calculated using the published data.
Governor Hashim also responded to claims that the usable reserve is under the threat of being exhausted due to rising inflation. The governor said considering the current situation and trends, the likelihood of exhausting the usable reserve is low.
MMA had stated the usable reserve of the country is currently USD316 million and is expected to drop to USD214 million by the end of the year.