President and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that he has a sound debt repayment plan in place to manage the USD 800 million foreign debt in 2026 through a debt refinancing strategy.
President Solih made these remarks during his visit to Haa Dhaalu Kulhudhuffushi, which is one of the final destinations for the president as he campaigns for re-election in this year's election, scheduled for September 9.
During the rally, president Solih addressed the most commonly raised criticism of his administration, which includes concerns about their ability to repay the debt on schedule. President Solih dismissed these criticisms as "baseless lies."
“That is complete fallacy to mislead the public, those statements are politically motivated,” he said.
The Maldives is required to settle a lumpsum of USD 800 million in external debt, out of which USD 100 million should be repaid to the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), which he said has been deferred under a moratorium arrangement.
“Next is the USD 500 million Sukuk taken during Covid pandemic, and you all know why we had to take that measure. The state had no funds back then, and we had no way of paying public employees, no way of procuring medicine or goods,” the president said.
He said that the first order of business after acquiring the USD 500 million Sukuk was to repay USD 250 million to the “Sunny Side Bond” taken during former president Abdulla Yameen’s administration. He added that if the government failed to repay said loan in time, the state would have defaulted by today.
“The remainder was spent on necessary expenditure, which included loans, aid and medical supply procurement to overcome the Covid pandemic,” president Solih said.
President Solih challenged his presidential race opponents, highlighting that with the election just a few days away, none of his rivals have presented a viable plan to settle the debt, except for him.
“But we have a plan, and half of it would be refinanced. We are working on that now,” he added.
He further added that foreign financial institutions and countries provide loan support to allied nations when there is assurance of sound loan repayment, and such transactions are built on mutual trust.
President Solih also asserted that his government was committed to transparency with the public and highlighted that the Maldives is a rich nation with substantial assets at its disposal. He said that the Maldives can easily secure loans ranging from USD 1-2 billion from any foreign financial institution today.
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