Parliament to work through Saturday, Sunday to facilitate emergency funding

The Parliament has announced it will hold virtual sittings on Saturday and Sunday to facilitate MVR 4.4 billion which the Finance Minister has stated the government required in order to manage its cash flow in order to continue provide public services, fund healthcare services, and provide socioeconomic support to citizens over the next three months.

Finance Minister has asked the Parliament for a one-year-stay on limits set under the Fiscal Responsibility Act in order to access long-term borrowings from the central bank.

The Parliament initiated its debate over the request this Thursday morning, and the Speaker, former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed has stated that the Parliament needed to make a decision regarding the request by Tuesday.

Noting that Friday was the first of Ramadan, he said that he wished to resume sittings at 11 am on Saturday, barring objections from parliamentarians.

“We need to get this done on Saturday and Sunday,” said Nasheed.

Nasheed said that based on his own estimates, the government required MVR 800 million by April 29.

He said the government would not be able to procure staple food shipments with the money, but that it required USD to make such procurements.

“This is to be circulated within the local economy. So we do not need to treat the money we will be issuing as something which will be converted to foreign currency. That can only be done by revitalizing our tourism industry,” said Nasheed.