Maldives Clears USD 150 Million Loan Repayment to India

New Delhi: The Maldives has repaid to India a loan of USD 150 million by settling the final tranche of USD 50 million treasury bills this week.

"The final tranche of USD 50 million treasury bills, out of a total of USD 150 million, subscribed by State Bank of India with the government of Maldives has been successfully settled on September 17," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday.

These treasury bills were subscribed by the SBI in 2019 and had been extended on six occasions, each time for a year, he said.

While the principal amount of the treasury bills was paid by the Maldives government, the interest payment on the treasury bills worth USD 150 million over the past five years was borne by the Indian government, Jaiswal said.

He was responding to a question on the issue during his regular media briefing.

"The total amount paid by India in interest settlement was close to USD 45 million," Jaiswal said.

He said India has also extended an Rs 30 billion currency swap facility to the Maldives to support the Maldivian financial system.

"In addition, the government of India has also subscribed to USD 350 million worth of treasury bonds which are valid till 2029 and 2030," he said.

Apart from financial cooperation, India supplies essential commodities to the Maldives as part of a development cooperation partnership, the spokesperson said.

"India and Maldives have a longstanding development partnership," he said.