India extends $250 million loan to coronavirus-hit Maldives

MALDIVES (AFP): India today (Sunday) has extended a $250 million loan to the Maldives in order to boost its coronavirus-hit economy, in a further attempt to counter China’s growing financial footprint.

According to details, the Indian Ocean archipelago has been badly hit by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with foreign tourists failing to flock back in large numbers.

A handover ceremony was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Maldives, to mark the occasion in the presence of Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid, Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer, High Commissioner Sunjay Sudhir and CEO, SBI, Male Bharat Mishra,

In a statement, India’s High Commission in the Maldives said, “The loan is being provided after a request by Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih for financial assistance to overcome the difficult economic situation.”

“The Maldives is at liberty to use the money in repairing the domestic economic situation in line with its own priorities,” India’s High Commission said.

The statement further informed that a sale of treasury bonds issued by the Maldives government to State Bank of India (SBI) will raise the money, with ten years given for repayment.

The financial assistance follows a $500 million pledge by New Delhi in August to help build bridges and causeways in the nation of 1,192 islands located on major East-West shipping lanes.

The Maldives, under former president Abdulla Yameen’s administration, borrowed some $1.4 billion from Beijing for expensive infrastructure projects. The bond takes New Delhi’s total pledged financial assistance to the Maldives to over $2 billion since Solih came to power.