India extends budget support to Maldives on line of credit of US$ 50 million for additional year

On the request of Maldivian Foreign Minister Musa Zameer, the Government of India on Monday provided budget support to Maldives in the form of a rollover of US$50 million treasury bills for an additional year.

“State Bank of India has subscribed for one more year to the Government Treasury Bills of US$ 50 million issued by the Ministry of Finance of Maldives on the maturity of the previous subscription. These government treasury bills are subscribed by SBI at zero-cost (interest-free) to the Government of Maldives under a unique government-to-government arrangement, the Indian High Commission in Maldives said in a statement.

This expansion of membership has been done at the request of the Government of Maldives.

“The membership has been continued at the specific request of the Government of Maldives to avail budgetary support from the Government of India,” the statement said.

Maldives Foreign Ministry in its statement said the Indian government’s decision to withdraw the T-bill comes after Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer requested External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his official visit to India earlier this month .

The Ministry also appreciated the support of the Government of India to Maldives in the form of budgetary allocation.

“A large number of infrastructure development projects and high impact community development projects are underway with the assistance of the Government of India, which includes a significant portion in the form of grant assistance,” the statement said.

It added that the Government of Maldives looks forward to continuing the collaborative partnership between the two countries for the mutual benefit and prosperity of their people.