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Asia and Pacific > Maldives

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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Maldives: 2012 Article IV Consultation-Public Information Notice; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Maldives
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This 2012 Article IV Consultation with Maldives discusses that fiscal position is weak, and its external reserves are critically low. The country has a long history of fiscal and external imbalances. Macroeconomic policies need adjustment. The authorities have taken important steps in the 2013 budget to reduce the fiscal deficit, but further consolidation is needed, both to ensure debt sustainability and to strengthen the balance of payments. That latter goal would be aided by devaluation, combined with a restrictive incomes and subsidy policy, which would address the current overvaluation of the rufiyaa and help to curb imports. Monetary tightening would help to prevent the need for a further devaluation. Financial supervision, particularly with regard to the state bank, also needs strengthening. Given the track record, a Staff Monitored Program could be the appropriate starting point for any renewed engagement, however, in order to begin discussions, there would need to be a clear commitment on the authorities’ part to implementing a comprehensive set of policy adjustments.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; deficit; Maldives economy; dollar; devaluation; exchange rate; MMA liability; targeted social assistance scheme; wage growth; financing climate; Imports; Tourism; Global; East Asia; South Asia; Europe
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Maldives: 2005 Article IV Consultation-Public Information Notice; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Maldives
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This 2005 Article IV Consultation with Maldives highlights that the Maldives suffered devastating damage from the December 2004 tsunami. Although human casualties were limited, damage to infrastructure has been extensive, with the cost of reconstruction estimated at nearly a half of gross domestic product. Reconstruction work has progressed slowly in 2005 but the pace is picking up. Recovery work has been slow due to insufficient coordination, problems in local consultation, and limited management capacity. The government and donors have been addressing these problems and the pace of implementation is finally accelerating. The 2006 budget is highly expansionary and threatens sustainability. The government has added to the fiscal deficit through new recruits, expansion of untargeted social programs, and a large domestically funded public investment program while using optimistic revenue projection. Fiscal reforms are of high priority. The report also explains that monetary policy should be geared to sustaining the peg arrangement based on indirect management. The objective of monetary policy should be to support the peg arrangement, which has served well as a credible nominal anchor.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Multi-Agency Macroeconomic Technical Committee; government; crisis risk; natural disaster assistance; staff appraisal; Maldivian authorities; announced intension; subsidy to the State Electricity Company; Budget planning and preparation; Exports; Global; South Asia
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Maldives: 2007 Article IV Consultation-Public Information Notice; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Maldives
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This 2005 Article IV Consultation with Maldives discusses that Maldives has rebounded strongly from the tsunami of late 2004. Gross domestic product has grown rapidly, underpinned by a robust increase in tourist arrivals, and by construction activity pertaining to the development of new resorts. Inflation remains low although it is on a rising trend. The exchange rate peg continues to serve the country well. The main challenge for Maldives is to ensure that favorable growth prospects are not undermined by fiscal excesses and consequent macroeconomic instability. The IMF staff urged the authorities to prioritize expenditures in line with more realistic revenue estimates, so as to achieve the stated objective of zero domestic financing of the budget. There has been a recent increase in debt ratios due to construction of new resorts and the government’s ambitious infrastructure program. The new central bank act has separated the positions of finance minister and governor of the central bank and reorganized the governing body of the central bank. Going forward it will be important to entrench central bank independence.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; government; deficit; staff assessment; fiscal policy; debt service; Maldivian authorities; Maldives economy; dollar peg; Tourism; South Asia; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Maldives: 2002 Article IV Consultation-Public Information Notice; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Maldives
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This 2002 Article IV Consultation with Maldives discusses that the performance of the Maldivian economy was strong through most of the past decade, despite handicaps arising from its small size and vulnerability to external developments. The devaluation and the weaker dollar have brought the effective real exchange rate closer to that of main competitors. Reserves have clawed back some of the losses in the aftermath of the devaluation. The 2002 Article IV discussions presented the opportunity to reassess progress toward restoring the soundness of macroeconomic and structural policies. In order to ensure a favorable medium-term performance for the Maldives, policies need to support the fixed exchange rate and adapt to ongoing structural changes—notably, the progressive liberalization of the financial sector, further private sector participation in activities still dominated by state-owned enterprises, and the likely tapering off of external assistance. The authorities have made some progress in responding to key policy challenges. Recent consultations have stressed the need for a stronger fiscal position and independent monetary management.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; authority; financing; deficit; central bank financing; staffs appraisal; percentage points of GDP; government activity; Maldivian authorities; capital revenue; automatic resort; Exports; Global; Asia and Pacific
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Maldives: 2001 Article IV Consultation-Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Maldives
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This 2001 Article IV Consultation with Maldives highlights that the economic challenges faced by Maldives are strongly influenced by geography and environment. The government’s overarching development strategy consists of creating new growth centers in the north and the south of the country and massive land reclamation in the vicinity of Male. Notwithstanding a slowdown in growth in 2000, Maldives’ economy has prospered with the rapid expansion of tourism and the modernization of the fisheries. At the conclusion of the last Article IV consultation on November 9, 2000, Executive Directors praised Maldives’ overall performance, however, warned of emerging imbalances. Fiscal slippage, compounded by adverse external developments, has been the main cause of recent imbalances in the Maldivian economy, manifested in rapid monetary expansion and sustained pressure on the exchange rate. The report shows that monetary developments have been dominated by central bank financing of fiscal deficits and excess demand for foreign exchange. The IMF staff team concluded that an adjustment of the exchange rate was not warranted until other options had been explored more fully.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; exchange rate; right; devaluation; exchange rate policy; U.S. dollar; tuna market; rufiyaa devaluation; monetary management system; Currency markets; Exchange rates; Real effective exchange rates; South Asia; Europe; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Maldives: Technical Assistance Report-Reform Options to Strengthen Tax Policy
International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
This report reviews tax policy in the Maldives and identifies reform options to support efficiency, equity, and revenue. The absence of a broad-based personal income tax (PIT) generates revenue leakages and significantly diminishes the role of tax policy in income redistribution. A modern tax design requires a holistic view of the taxation of different sources of income and different legal forms of taxpayers to maintain tax neutrality, to the extent possible, while preserving some degrees of progressivity, simplicity, and administrability. Moreover, updating the tax system to cope with recent international developments is vital to safeguard revenues. While strengthening the goods and services tax (GST) can raise revenues in the short- to medium-term, a property tax is an important option for the long-term. The diagram below demonstrates reform priorities, as identified in this report, to modernize tax policy in the Maldives.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; tax treatment; progressive tax; goods and services tax; property tax; tax rate; tax treaty; zero rating; flat tax; stamp duty; tax revenue; tax law; Double taxation; Personal income; Value-added tax; Income and capital gains taxes; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Maldives: 2019 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Maldives
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This 2019 Article IV Consultation discusses that growth in Maldives has been strong and is projected to remain so in 2019 driven by tourism, commerce, and construction. Nonetheless, the Maldives remains highly vulnerable with reduced policy space due to large and growing public debt and rising pressures on external stability. The consultation focused on addressing external imbalances including offering advice on restoring fiscal buffers, strengthening public finance management, reforming the exchange rate regime, building international reserves, improving governance, implementing structural reforms, and encouraging diversification. The outlook is for continued strong growth and moderate inflation, and only a gradual improvement in fiscal and current account deficits. As major infrastructure projects will gradually start to unwind, the current account deficit will begin to narrow. Under the current policies, the fiscal deficit is projected to remain elevated. However, successful implementation of tax reforms and improved tax administration, together with measures to contain budgetary spending, would result in a narrowing of both fiscal and current account deficits and mitigate the risks posed by high and rising public and external debt.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; GDP; deficit; debt; IMF staff projection; SDF balance; government infrastructure investment; growth outlook; government's policy; financing pressure; Tourism; Global; IMF's transparency policy; IMF's articles of agreement; Exchange rate arrangements; Fiscal consolidation
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Maldives: Technical Assistance Report-Public Investment Management Assessment
International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
This Technical Assistance Report discusses that in the Maldives, public investment trends have been influenced by a number of contextual factors including the economic dependency on tourism, the high exposure to climate change, and the recent democratization. The mission assessed the strength and quality of public investment management (PIM) in the Maldives using the IMF Public Investment Management framework, based on the three phases of the PIM cycle. The report highlights that the most significant weakness in the PIM and the wider Public Financial Management system is poor budget credibility and budget execution. However, some progress has been made in improving PIM institutions, and reforms are ongoing in a number of areas. It is imperative to strengthen the project appraisal process by developing a standard methodology for project appraisal, publishing this methodology and verifying that it is consistently applied by the line ministries. It is also important to develop a framework for ex-post evaluations and ensure that lessons learned from past projects are incorporated in revised guidelines and practices.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; cash management; investment project; public investment; address government policy priority; budget process; capital stock; cash flow; procurement regulation; central government; General government investment; oversight body; short term; Public investment and public-private partnerships (PPP); Budget planning and preparation; Public investment spending; Capital budget; Capital spending; Asia and Pacific; Global
Cover Policy Papers
Small States Resilience to Natural Disasters and Climate Change - Role for the IMF
International Monetary Fund
Small developing states are disproportionately vulnerable to natural disasters. On average, the annual cost of disasters for small states is nearly 2 percent of GDP—more than four times that for larger countries. This reflects a higher frequency of disasters, adjusted for land area, as well as greater vulnerability to severe disasters. About 9 percent of disasters in small states involve damage of more than 30 percent of GDP, compared to less than 1 percent for larger states. Greater exposure to disasters has important macroeconomic effects on small states, resulting in lower investment, lower GDP per capita, higher poverty, and a more volatile revenue base.
Keywords:
PP; climate change financing; contingent financing arrangement; disaster risk financing tool kit; financing needs; Fund emergency financing; low income; Fund financing; balance of payments; disaster financing approach; debt management; central bank; B. risk financing toolkit; Natural disasters; Climate change; Climate finance; Disaster aid; Insurance; Global; Pacific Islands; Caribbean; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Maldives: 2016 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Maldives
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This paper discusses recent economic developments, outlook, and risks of Maldives’ economy. Maldives living standards have risen to middle-income levels over the past two decades driven by tourism development. The country’s geography creates fiscal challenges, and the economy has faced persistent fiscal deficits over the past decade. The economy is highly exposed to climate change, a fact that further adds to fiscal costs. The real economy outperformed its peers in the past few years, but tourism slowed last year. Public debt is high and on a rising trajectory. A detailed national development strategy would ensure that investment plans are well coordinated and bring about bigger growth dividends.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; GDP; deficit; exchange rate; current account; tourism activity; tourism arrival; Maldives economy; staff's projection; monetary policy stance; Tourism; Climate change; Fiscal stance; Global; South Asia; Asia and Pacific; Europe