President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has rejected claims that land in Rasmalé has been allocated to a United Arab Emirates company for the Pearl Residence Programme.

Responding to a question during a press briefing on Monday, the President said allegations that the Government had set aside any part of the Rasmalé development for the programme were false.

"The Government has not allocated any area of Rasmalé to any party for the Pearl Residence programme. There is no truth to those claims whatsoever," the President said.

He added that similar claims regarding the Rasmalé project were also baseless.

The President also rejected reports that shares in the wholly State-owned Development Bank of Maldives (DBM) would be sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The Government has said the Development Bank of Maldives was established to mobilise financing for national development, with administrative work on the bank currently progressing.

Rasmalé, which is being developed through a large-scale land reclamation project, is the Government's flagship housing initiative aimed at addressing the country's housing shortage.

The project commenced in December 2023 and involves the reclamation of a total of 1,153 hectares of land.