Former Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer has said that this government's policy is to increase political staff and exhaust all the funds in the budget

In an interview given to a Maldivian media outlet last night, Ameer said that this government's policy is to increase political staff and give all the funds in the budget to them, exhausting it. He noted that no economic projects were implemented in any island from the budget passed by the parliament last year.

Ameer said that last year was a year of major challenges for the Maldivian economy. He also said that the fishing, tourism, and construction industries faced a challenging year last year.

Ameer said that for the past year, people have been in a state of destitution, and last year was a year when people became economically poorer. He particularly noted that the income of fishermen decreased and economic activities in the islands came to a halt.

"Fishermen don't get money for the fish they catch. They don't get fuel, fishermen don't go fishing. We are seeing that even the amount of fish exported has decreased significantly," Ameer said.

In addition, noting that small and medium enterprises in the construction industry have collapsed and gone bankrupt, Ameer said that due to the policies adopted by the government last year, alarm bells are ringing that the tourism sector may face dark days.

While Ameer has said this, the government has stated that there is high hope that the coming year will be a prosperous year for the Maldivian economy.