Government mum on details of $100m Indian loan
The $100 million, announced at a ceremony held at the Maldivian foreign ministry last week, is being provided through a treasury bond sale to SBI Male.
Government on Thursday declined to disclose details of the $100 million India lent to the Maldives last week as budget support via a treasury bond sale.
The $100 million, announced at a ceremony held at the Maldivian foreign ministry last week, is being provided through a treasury bond sale to SBI Male. It is backed by a sovereign guarantee by the Indian government, they said.
However, the maturity period, interest and other key details of the bond are unknown.
The finance ministry had earlier declined to provide details of the facility when questioned by Atoll Times. Presidential spokesperson Miuvan Mohamed, when asked about the issue at a press conference on Thursday, said it was technical information and did not disclose the information.
"The finance ministry will disclose the technicalities regarding the loan. They will disclose the information they can disclose as per their agreement with the bank," Miuvan said.
The budget support came a day after the parliament approved a supplementary budget proposed by the finance ministry to add MVR 5.8 billion to this year's state budget as the MVR 36.9 billion approved for the year failed to meet expenditure.
Parliament also approved MVR 42.8 billion as the state budget for 2023.
The budget for 2023 has set a target of MVR 32 billion in revenue. The budget debt or deficit for the next fiscal year is expected to amount to MVR 8.4 billion.
