Finance Ministry has declined to disclose details of the unpaid dues by government ministries and state-owned companies to contractors.
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, on October 2nd, announced that the government would settle all outstanding payments to private companies within the next five weeks. He had previously said all unpaid dues to contractors will be settle before the commencement of last Ramadan: something which the government failed to do.
Earlier, on August 17th, Sun submitted a request under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, seeking information on the unpaid dues to contractors. However, the Finance Ministry, in its response issued last month, declined to provide the details, citing the request’s failure to specify a particular timeframe.
Upon request to review the response, Finance Ministry’s Review Committee provided a more detailed response, but still failed to provide the requested information.
In this regard, Finance Ministry, in its second response on Monday, said it cannot provide the requested the information as contracts are executed directly between the contractors and the ministries and state-owned companies.
The Ministry added that the unpaid dues to specific contractors would be disclosed by the contractor itself.
Finance Ministry also detailed that the Ministry does not maintain records to unpaid dues by state-owned companies, adding the information has to be sought separately from each state-owned company.
However, it is the Finance Ministry that disburses funds from the start budget to all ministries and state-owned companies.
Notably, at present, the government is under fire following reports by local media, citing a senior official from Finance Ministry, which states central bank, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) is raising funds through Maldives Pension Administration Office (MPAO) in order to settle outstanding payments to contractors.
Last week, MPAO’s board approved a decision to sell a government bond in the secondary market in collaboration with the central bank. Experts have alleged that MMA is investing MVR 2.5 billion in the pension fund and then having the Pension Administration Office invest the money in a government bond – something that is the same as money printing.
The President, on Monday, denied the reports of printing MVR 2.5 billion, citing his administration is settling outstanding debts to private businesses without resorting to printing money.
During his 2023 presidential campaign, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu vowed he would never print money, as his predecessor had resorted to during the Covid-19 pandemic. He repeatedly reiterated this pledge after taking office, naming avoiding money printing as one of his administration’s crowning achievements.