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On 12 August 2026 the Maldivian Democratic Party will gather in Malé to commemorate Black Friday and protest inflation and the black-market dollar. The demonstration has been named Dhathivejje. A useful protest asserts causation: this decision, by these people, produced this harm; reverse it. Dhathivejje asserts that hardship is being felt. That is true, and politically almost inert. The government does not deny the hardship. Its entire economic narrative rests on acknowledgi

While the single-notch ratings upgrade might have brought the Maldives back from the brink; it comes with warnings that should not be ignored. The decision by Fitch Ratings to upgrade the Maldives' sovereign credit rating from CC to CCC- is undoubtedly welcome news. At a time when concerns over debt repayments and foreign currency shortages have dominated economic discussions, any improvement in the country's credit standing offers a much welcome measure of reassurance. Yet t

When outrage travels faster than truth, democracy becomes vulnerable to manipulation. Democracies are not weakened only by coups, censorship or constitutional crises. They can also weaken slowly through fear, distrust, misinformation and emotional exhaustion. In the neo-digital age, where public life moves at the speed of algorithms and outrage, the preservation of democracy increasingly depends on dignity, trust and the ability to think beyond the emotion of the moment. Demo

The Maldives imports nearly all of its food despite generating billions from tourism each year. Building a more resilient food system will require smarter production, stronger logistics, and better integration between local agriculture and the tourism economy. A System Built on Imports There is something quietly contradictory about the Maldives. The country earns its living from one of the world’s most coveted landscapes; turquoise water, pristine reefs, and picture-perfect s

A ministry renamed and a governance model reshaped: How centralisation of authority risks weakening oversight and increasing political influence over state enterprises. The recent decision to rename the Ministry of Finance and Planning as the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises represents more than administrative restructuring. Ministries are occasionally renamed to reflect expanding mandates or shifting priorities. Yet this particular change signals a deeper instituti

The out-of-sequence nature in which the development of VIA was undertaken means that the new upgrades, while in addition to costing more, may have begun to depreciate well before certain facilities went into service. The expansion of the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) managed Velana International Airport (VIA) between 2016 and 2023 was one of the most ambitious infrastructure programmes undertaken by the Maldives. The new Code-F runway, the Noovilu seaplane termin

The Maldives needs smarter policies to address the squeeze being felt nationwide, from businesses to household budgets, as sharp fuel price hikes linked to the Gulf crisis feed through the economy. On 5 March, Maldivians woke up to the largest fuel price increase in recent years. Petrol at Fuel Supply Maldives (FSM) pumps rose from MVR 13.50 to MVR 16.01 per litre, while diesel increased from MVR 13.92 to MVR 17.54, a jump of roughly 18 to 26 percent in a single step. In an e

A referendum on 4 April asks Maldivians to vote on electoral consolidation. The real question is whether our institutions serve the public or the people who control them. On 4 April, Maldivians will vote in a referendum on whether presidential and parliamentary elections should be held on the same day within a single electoral cycle rather than as separate contests held months apart. The government’s case appears straightforward; one election instead of two, lower administrat

The announcement of the Maldives International Financial Centre (MIFC) is one of the most ambitious projects in the country's history....

The post ‘Trump Tariff’ world: -since 2nd April, will be immeasurably different in format and scope from the international trading...

The details offered by the Deputy Governor of MMA in his resignation letter to MMA and separately to the President, has lifted the veil...

This article draws on data from the World Bank Maldives Development Update: Seeking Stability in Turbulent Times (October 2024) report....

The Plimsoll Mark is a mandatory line painted on the hull of vessels, indicating the legal and safe limit, beyond which the vessel should...