News Desk
MALE’ — When Hassan Zareer walked into the Finance Ministry on Tuesday to be welcomed by senior staff, he was stepping into one of the most demanding roles in the Maldivian government at one of its most demanding moments.
Zareer was sworn in as Finance Minister on Monday at the President’s Office, with the oath administered by Supreme Court Justice Mohamed Saleem. He replaces Moosa Zameer, who resigned citing health reasons, ending a tenure that included the repayment of the USD 500 million Sukuk and a Fitch credit rating upgrade, two of the more significant fiscal milestones of the current administration.
The new minister is not a political figure. He is a technocrat with more than two decades in public finance, taxation and audit, the kind of appointment that signals the government wants continuity of technical management rather than a change in direction.
Zareer served as Commissioner General of Taxation most recently, overseeing MIRA. Before that he spent nearly a decade as Deputy Commissioner General of Taxation from 2010 to 2019, and earlier as Chief Public Accounts Executive at the Finance Ministry between 2007 and 2010. Outside the public sector he has served as Chairperson of the Bank of Maldives and Director of Finance at Villa Shipping and Trading Company.
His academic record is strong. He holds a Master of Science in Finance and a Bachelor of Accounting from the International Islamic University Malaysia, where he was recognised as the top student in his master’s programme. He is a Fellow Chartered Management Accountant from the United Kingdom and holds a Certified Practising Accountant qualification from Australia.
The Finance Ministry faces a full inbox. State-owned enterprise reform, foreign currency reserve management, the sustainability of Aasandha payments, and the ongoing pressure on public finances from a softer tourism year all sit on the desk Zareer now occupies. Zameer built the platform. Zareer inherits it.
