The government took a loan of USD 50 million (MVR 770 million) from the Bank of Maldives through the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) to pay off a bond sold to State Bank of India (SBI) last month, Mihaaru News reports.
The government took a loan of USD 50 million (MVR 770 million) from the Bank of Maldives through the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) to pay off a bond sold to State Bank of India (SBI) last month, Mihaaru News reports.
Citing an anonymous source identified as a senior figure with credible information, Mihaaru said that the government had to take the loan through MACL as the government itself had already reached its credit limit with the bank. The source said that the loan had been taken during December, 2023.
MACL has not made any statements regarding the loan. Finance Minister Dr Mohamed Shafeeq also did not respond to questions posed to him on the matter.
The bond was sold to SBI in January last year. Interest rate of this year-long bond stands at 4.5 percent.
While a loan has been taken from BML to pay off the bond, last January, Finance Ministry has announced that it is seeking USD 550 million (MVR 8.5 billion).
The government has to seek MVR 14 billion as budget deficit this year. MVR 3.9 billion of this will be sought from domestic market, while the remaining MVR 12.3 billion will be sought from abroad, through budget support loans, green/blue bonds and project loans.
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