Maldives to assign India's $300m Gulhifalhu port loan for housing
Shafeeq said that housing is a high priority of President Mohamed Muizzu and he wants to start the projects as soon as possible.
Maldives will reassign $300 million of a credit line from India for the construction of an international port in Gulhifalhu for housing projects, finance minister Dr Mohamed Shafeeq said Wednesday.
Deputy speaker Ahmed Nazim, who was present at the finance committee meeting on Wednesday, asked whether the line of credit or loan given by India for the construction of the main commercial port at Gulhifalhu in the previous government has now been spent on a housing project.
Shafeeq agreed with Nazim and said that the credit line from India was on good terms.
"It is a facility on a very favorable term. The facilities that are taken out for housing or projects like this [should be] on a favourable term so that it does not burden the state," he said.
Nazim asked how much of the remaining amount of the loan facility could be used for the housing project. In response to the question, Shafeeq said:
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About $300 million will be allocated for housing from the line of credit provided by India
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He believes that construction of 4,000 housing units will begin under the loan this year
"The relevant ministries are doing the same. The available financing facilities have been targeted at housing," he said.
Shafeeq said that housing is a high priority of President Mohamed Muizzu and he wants to start the projects as soon as possible to find a solution to the housing problem.
The minister said the government is working to attract investments to Maldives so that the government debt does not increase directly.
The government has decided not to proceed with the international commercial port project at Gulhifalhu under the Indian credit line.
Instead, the government has decided to develop a port in Thilafushi.
