The Ministry of Finance and Planning has reported that the government has paid over USD 84.3 million in loans and interest so far this year.
The highest debt repayment obligation for the Maldives in its history is for the current year. As such, the government is taking measures to manage the debt.
According to the Finance Ministry’s Weekly Fiscal Development Report, USD 51.76 million has been spent on loan principal repayments and USD 37.46 million on interest, totaling USD 84.3 million so far this year.
A total of USD 330.72 million was spent on repayment of loans, with USD 298.3 million spent on interest, at the end of last year. With these figures, the total debt-related spending of USD 628.79 million exceeded last year’s budget allocation of USD 602.6 million.
The Maldives will need to pay USD 1.17 billion in debt and financing costs this year. The largest upcoming payment is for a sukuk maturing next month, costing about USD 600 million. Of this, USD 150 million will be covered by the Sovereign Development Fund (SDF).
The government plans to repay part of the sukuk and refinance the remainder. The government has assured that the interest rate on any new loan taken for this purpose will not exceed nine percent. The total funding needed for this year’s debt obligations and budget deficit is USD 1.71 billion.
Earlier this month, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu confirmed that USD 500 million in securities issued in 2021 will be repaid on 8 April, backed by available reserves. The government has USD 650 million in reserves for the repayment of the loan, he had said. Discussions with foreign lenders are ongoing and are reported to be progressing positively, he added.