Maldives asks India to rollover USD200 million loan

Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer said on Saturday that he has requested the Indian government to extend the repayment duration for the USD 200 million loan that india had provided as budgetary support in 2019 under former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

Of the USD 200 million, USD 50 million was paid back to India last January.

Replying to a question from Atoll Times at a press conference held at the President's Office on Saturday, Minister Zameer said that the Maldives had sought an extension of repayment.

Indian officials say USD 50 million of the USD 200 million was provided as free aid during the previous government. So USD 100 million remains to be paid now.

Minister Zameer said that no amount of the loan taken in 2019 was paid by the end of the previous government.

"We have asked for the remaining amount to be rolled over and the Indian government has not asked us for anything in return," he said.

The minister said India has always assured Maldives of its assistance.

"India has always been positive about the needs of our country, assured us that it will continue to help us in major issues and have helped us in what we wanted in the past, which is why we have been given the green signal personally one on one," the minister said.

Zameer added that the debt level when the previous government came to power in 2018 had doubled by its end and so the current administration was trying to find easier ways to repay them.