Ministry of Finance has stated that the national reserve of the Maldives is projected to be at USD 605 million by 2024.

This was disclosed in the 2024 state budget submitted to the People's Majlis.

The government budget for next year says official reserves are expected to fall to USD 618.4 million by 2023. The Ministry stated that this was due to an increase in international oil prices, which led to an increase in the amount spent on purchasing oil.

According to the proposed budget, official reserves are expected to reach USD 605.7 million by 2024.

Referring to MMA's Balance of Payments data shows, the Finance Ministry noted that the current account deficit will be see an increase from USD one billion or 16.3 percent of GDP in 2022 to USD 1.5 billion or 22.4 percent of GDP by 2023.

Additionally, the figure is expected to reach USD 1.39 billion, or 18.8 percent of GDP, by 2024.

It was noted that the main reason for the decline in the current account deficit in 2023 was the lower estimated revenue from the tourism industry this year compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, by 2023, the country is estimated to spend USD 1.63 billion on foreign services. This value is predicted to climb to USD 1.67 billion by 2024.

Looking at the import-export data of commodities, imports are expected to reach USD 3.37 billion by 2023, up from USD 3.31 billion in 2022. This is a 1.9 percent increase. Additionally, imports are expected to reach USD 3.54 billion in 2024.