India grants extension to Maldives on USD 50 million government bonds

New Delhi has rolled over for one more year USD 50 million Maldives government bonds as an emergency financial assistance the Indian High Commission said ThursdayThe deadline for the repayment of a USD 50 million Treasury Bill Tbill was extended once again on the request of the Maldives governmentSince March 2019 the Government of India has been facilitating subscription of several such Treasury Bills by the State Bank of India SBI and rolling them over annually interestfree to the Government of Maldives the Indian High Commission said in a statementOn the request of the Government of Maldives the State Bank of India SBI has subscribed for one more year a USD 50 million Government Treasury Bill issued by the Ministry of Finance of Maldives the statement saidThe deadline for repayment was ThursdayThis has been done under a unique GovernmenttoGovernment arrangement as an emergency financial assistance to Maldives the statement posted on the High Commissions X account saidMaldives is Indias key maritime neighbour and an important partner in Indias Neighbourhood First policy and Vision MAHASAGAR ie Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across RegionsIndia has assisted Maldives in times of need and the subscription of this Treasury Bill along with the Government of Indias decision earlier this year to extend the special quota for export of essential commodities for Maldives and resubscription of another Tbill reflect Indias continued support to the Government and the people of the Maldives the Indian mission addedMaldives Finance Minister Moosa Zameer met with G Balasubramanian the High Commissioner of India to the Maldives and Suja K Menon Joint Secretary and senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs MEA on WednesdayDiscussions centred on ongoing cooperation and ways to further strengthen MaldivesIndia relations Maldives Ministry of Finance and Planning said in a post on X after the meeting held at the Finance MinistryZameer called the meeting as productive and said in a post on X We reviewed progress of Indias LOCfinanced projects addressed key challenges and explored ways to strengthen MaldivesIndia trade tiesThe Tbill is part of USD 200 million taken as budget support in 2019 by the former administration led by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih news portal Editionmv saidIn January 2024 the government repaid a USD 50 million Tbill from this Of the remaining USD 100 million USD 50 million was due in May last year India granted a one year extension on that it said adding This time too India has deferred the remaining amount of the TbillThe Finance Ministry also said that Wednesdays meeting featured discussions about the development project portfolio which will be financed under the Line of Credit LOC extended by the Indian governmentKey challenges faced in implementation were shared as well as paths to successful completion of said projects Editionmv saidIn addition to deferring repayment of the USD 100 million issued as budget support a USD 750 million currency swap facility was extended to Maldives USD 400 million of this is being used by the government The government is also in discussion with Indias central bank Reserve Bank of India to take the remaining INR 30 billion swap facility it addedMeanwhile the 14th Joint Project Monitoring Committee meeting of Greater Male Connectivity Male to Thilafushi Link Project was held on Wednesday at the Ministry of Construction Housing and InfrastructureIndia and Maldives reviewed the progress of the Greater Male Connectivity Bridge a flagship project by India being implemented under the LoC and grant the Indian High Commission said in another post on XThe meeting was cochaired by Minister of Construction Housing and Infrastructure Dr Abdulla Muththalib and G Balasubramanian and attended by senior officials from both the governments Exim Bank of India apart from contractor Afcons and consultant Arup the Maldives ministry saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever