Finance Ministry has announced the sale of MVR 2.2 billion worth treasury bills (T-bills) to meet state expenditure needs.
The Ministry announced the sale of a total of four T-bills, with different maturity periods: 28 days, 98 days, 182 days, and 364 days. They include T-bills valued at MVR 730 million, MVR 100 million, MVR 447 million and MVR 924 billion. The T-bills will be sold at interest rates of 3.50, 3.87, 4.24 and 4.60.
T-bills are a financial instrument sold by central banks to meet government budget financing requirements with a fixed interest rate and a maturity period of one year or less. T-bills are usually bought by banks that operate in Maldives, the pension office, state-owned enterprises, and some private companies.
Top rating agencies Moody’s and Fitch have both downgraded Maldives’ credit rating due to the concerning financial state of the country. Both rating agencies cited exponential rise in state debt as chief reason for their ratings downgrade.
Meanwhile, both World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on the government to expedite efforts to reduce state expenditure.
The MVR 56.6 billion annual budget passed for 2025 is with a deficit of MVR 9.4 billion.
According to recent data released by the Finance Ministry, the state has reported a budget surplus. Despite this, spending on salaries and allowances had increased by MVR 286 million as of April 10th, compared to the same timeframe last year. Additionally, Aasandha expenditures rose to MVR 665.9 million, marking an increase of MVR 179 million from the previous year’s figures for the same period.