MVR 100 million in borrowed budget support repaid

The Maldivian government has repaid the USD 100 million borrowed from Cargill Financial Services International (CFSIT) during former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's administration as budget support.

The then MDP government secured the loan in 2022 due to financial constraints.

A senior government official confirmed that the administration repaid the loan this much, similar to other months and said that, "As it is a regular obligation, and we have fulfilled it this month as well. No debt has been defaulted so far," the source said.

According to local reports, the loan carried a 7.15% interest rate with a three-year repayment period, meaning an additional $26 million was paid in interest.

Apart from the Cargill Finance loan, the previous administration also borrowed from other sources, including USD 1.6 billion from AKA European Export and Trade Bank, Netherland's ABN AMRO Bank, and ING Bank for the Gulhifalhu reclamation project, as well as another USD 18 million loan from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for the government's waste management project.

Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) said yesterday that Maldives' usable reserves stood at USD 179 million at the end of last month, reflecting a USD 63 million increase from January, when reserves were at USD 116 million.