President Mohamed Muizzu has announced that the government today settled an additional USD 50 million payment for Treasury bills (T-bills) sold to the State Bank of India (SBI) by the previous administration.
Speaking at a press conference held at the President's Office, Muizzu said that the payment for a USD 50 million "loan" taken from India was completed earlier this morning.
Although Muizzu referred to the repayment as a loan, the funds pertain to USD 150 million in T-bills sold to SBI as budget support through the mediation of the Indian government. The previous administration had rolled over this debt on three occasions.
Since assuming office, the current administration has already repaid USD 50 million of the total amount. Following that initial payment, the government requested the Indian government to rollover the remaining USD 100 million debt.
Muizzu further assured that the final USD 50 million installment would be settled by its due date on September 17 of this year.
With today’s USD 50 million payment to SBI, the Maldivian government has repaid a total of USD 974 million in debt over the past 40 days. This includes USD 524 million for a Sukuk issued by the previous government and the settlement of a USD 400 million currency swap facility with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) utilized by the current administration.
