Bill to empower minister to take sovereign debt, issue sovereign guarantee sent to Committee

The bill proposing amendments to the Public Finance Act, designed to empower the finance minister to propose to take on sovereign debt or issue sovereign guarantee, has been sent to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

In the vote taken at today’s parliamentary sitting on whether to forward the bill to the Committee or not; it was passed to send the bill to the Committee with the unanimous vote of 36 parliamentarians who were in attendance.

The bill was submitted to the Parliament on behalf of the government by South Fuvahmulah MP Mohamed Mumthaz.

The bills states that the finance minister should be responsible for the management of the Loans and Capital Works Fund, Advance Fund, Consolidated Revenue Fund, Sovereign Development Fund, and Trust Fund.

It also stipulates that spending and investment decisions on funds in the Sovereign Development Fund will be made by the president, under the advisement of the finance minister.

Apart from this, it states that a custodial account must be opened with the Maldives Monetary Authority as the Sovereign Development Fund, in order to invest state funds in a sustainable manner, service debt, and increase revenue.