Price of staple food in the Maldives is very much cheaper compared to other countries in the region.
Recently a foreign diplomat who came to Maldives for the first time brought 30 kilograms of sugar with him when he came here. Since we export everything he assumed that sugar will be expensive. But it turned out that the price of sugar in Maldives is 300% cheaper than his own country where they produce sugar.
Staple goods are available at such a low price because of the subsidies of the government. The problem is not having a subsidy. The issue is the amount of subsidy being used by foreigners and tourists. So far this year 310 million Rufiyaa has been spent on food subsidies. Out of which 182.9 million Rufiyaa was spent on Maldivians. The rest, 127.1 million Rufiyaa was spent on tourists and foreigners living in the Maldives.
127 million Rufiyaa is a lot of money. It can be used in so many projects. Economists have always highlighted this problem in Maldives. But, so far no government has taken any action on this.
Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed said that this subsidy should be cut for foreigners and tourists.
Even in other countries, subsidies are given only to the citizens of the country and other people who qualify for it. It is given via ration shops, not in ordinary shops and supermarkets.
Tourists, do pay tax to the state. But that does not mean they deserve the benefits given to the needy Maldivians. If we look at foreigners living in the country, they do not pay even any tax to the state. However, in developed countries, even the foreigners reveiving huge salaries are taxed.
A lot of people hope that these problems will be solved as part of the ongoing economic reform program of the current government.
Forty-one percent of food subsidy is spent on tourists and foreigners!
