News Desk
MALE’, — Abdulla Shahid, president of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), launched a scathing critique of President Mohamed Muizzu’s administration on Thursday, characterizing its strategy to finance government debt through the pension fund as covert currency printing that threatens to derail the national economy.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, Mr Shahid condemned the government’s plan to direct the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) to invest approximately 2.4 billion Maldivian rufiyaa (around USD 122 million) of pension assets into state Treasury bills (T-bills).
Shahid warned that injecting billions of unbacked rufiyaa into the financial system under the guise of institutional investments would trigger severe domestic economic destabilisation.
He highlighted several immediate risks:
- Accelerated Inflation: Unregulated liquidity expanding consumer prices across the island nation.
- Currency Depreciation: Further downward pressure on the value of the Maldivian rufiyaa.
- Foreign Exchange Shortages: Heightened dollar scarcity, pushing parallel market rates higher.
“President Muizzu explicitly pledged not to print money, yet he has broken that promise and taken steps that risk catastrophic harm to our financial system,” Shahid wrote, describing the policy as reckless and destructive to citizens’ long-term savings.
The opposition leader’s remarks coincide with an escalating exodus of senior executives and oversight figures at the Maldives Pension Administration Office.
On Thursday alone, three key figures resigned from the institution, including Haifa Ahmed, the Head of Investments, along with two senior management officials.
These departures follow a broader wave of high-level exits at the agency in recent months, which include:
- The Chief Executive Officer
- The Chief Financial Officer
- The Chairman of the Governing Board
- Multiple board directors
While the Pension Office has declined to comment officially on the reasons behind the resignations, domestic media reports and opposition politicians attribute the exodus directly to internal resistance against the government’s aggressive mandate to absorb state debt bonds.
