President Mohamed Nasheed has said that the national inflation rate has declined from 12.06 to 10.38 since last year. The President made this remark at a press conference held this afternoon at the President’s Office to brief the media on the state of the economy.
The President reiterated that the key target of the government’s economic policy was to reduce the prices of goods and services and that the government hoped to reduce the inflation rate even further.
Speaking on the reforms to the fisheries sector, the President revealed that the government had decided to review the floor price of fish on a weekly basis.
He also said the main reason for low fish prices was the lack of sufficient competition in the fisheries market.
He said the government would soon find more parties to do business in the fisheries market.
On the tourism sector, the President said that despite the global economic downturn, the number of upmarket tourists had not declined much. He said the number of midmarket travellers had fallen, before adding the decline was not alarming.
Vice President Dr Waheed also spoke at the press conference. He briefed the media on the work being done on tackling the drug issue.
Dr Waheed said it was estimated that 15 kilos of drugs were being used in the country every month. He also said most of the biggest drug dealers in the country had not been arrested yet.
Speaking on the work of the Narcotics Control Council, the Vice President said that as a measure to reduce the supply of drugs, surveillance at ports was being strengthened.
