Govt gives guarantee for MVR 231m loan for submarine cable
Cabinet also decided that the government would finance the $2.92 million owed to equity to resume loan disbursements.
The government has given a sovereign guarantee to fund loans worth MVR 231 million to start an internet submarine cable service laid by the government with Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio.
Under the agreement signed with Reliance in February 2022, the submarine cable was connected to the station in Hulhumale in early August 2023.
According to loan and sovereign guarantee data released by the finance ministry on Wednesday, the government granted sovereign guarantees to the Fund Management Corporation to take out two loans from the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) in March.
The two loans are:
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115.7 million
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$7.5 million
Details of the two loans were not available.
In August, President Mohamed Muizzu decided to proceed with the Ocean Connect Maldives (OCM) international submarine cable project, led by a subsidiary of the 100% state-owned company, Maldives Fund Management Corporation (MFMC), without any further changes.
The decision was reached after thorough discussions on a paper presented by the finance ministry during a cabinet meeting.
The cabinet also decided that the government would finance the $2.92 million owed to equity to resume loan disbursements for the project, investing the loan amount to move the project forward.
Maldives - IAX:
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Speed: 100 GB per second
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Capacity: 200 TB per second
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Maldives' internet service providers will be able to provide internet at lower prices than the current internet prices
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Internet service speeds will be faster and prices will be reduced
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It plans to enter new business opportunities such as exporting data
