India extends $50 million budgetary support to Maldives as goodwill gesture

Male: In a goodwill gesture, India has decided to extend vital budgetary support to the Maldives with the rollover of a $50 million Treasury Bill for another year at the Maldivian government's special request, it was announced on Monday.

The State Bank of India has subscribed for one more year to the $50 million Government Treasury Bill, issued by the Ministry of Finance of Maldives, upon maturity of the previous subscription, the High Commission of India said in a brief statement on Monday.

The Indian government took this decision despite the bilateral ties experiencing turbulence since Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, a pro-China leader, assumed office six months back.

These Government Treasury Bills are subscribed by SBI under government-to-government, a unique arrangement at zero cost (interest-free) to the Government of Maldives.

The continuation of subscription has been made at the special request of the Government of Maldives to secure budgetary support from the Government of India, the statement said.

Under the terms of special government-to-government arrangement, SBI has been subscribing to these government treasury bills at zero cost to the Maldives government. This means the Maldives incurs no interest expense on the borrowed amount, the Edition.mv news portal reported.

The first treasury bill, valued at $50 million, matured in January 2024, which the Maldives had repaid. The second treasury bill, also valued at $50 million, is set to mature in May 2024. In response to a special request from the Maldives, SBI has opted to extend its subscription for another year.

The third treasury bill is due to mature in September, the report said.

The Maldivian government on Monday thanked India for its support. "I thank EAM @DrSJaishankar and the Government of #India for extending vital budgetary support to the Maldives with the rollover of $50 million Treasury Bill. This is a true gesture of goodwill which signifies the longstanding friendship between #Maldives and #India," Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer tweeted.

"The Government of India has provided budget support of $50 million to the Maldives. The support was in the form of a rollover of $50 million Treasury Bill, for an additional year, through the State Bank of India, Male, from May 13, 2024," the Maldivian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Government of India’s decision to rollover the T-Bill came following a request to that effect made by Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer to India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, during the official bilateral visit to India from May 8-10," the statement said.

The Government of Maldives is highly appreciative of the generous support that the Government of India has been providing to the Maldives in the form of budgetary support. A large number of infrastructural developmental projects and High Impact Community Developmental projects are underway with assistance from the Government of India, which consists of a notable part as grant assistance, the statement said.

The Government of Maldives looks forward to continuing this collaborative partnership for the mutual benefit and prosperity of their people, it said.

Zameer after coming back from the visit said that significant strides have been made in expediting India-assisted projects in the Maldives, as he underscored the government's commitment to prioritising the resumption and completion of these projects.

It comes amid a downturn in the bilateral ties between the two countries since President Muizzu assumed office in November and immediately asked India to withdraw some 89 Indian military personnel from the country by May 10. The Indian military personnel were operating three aviation platforms in the island nation.

Zameer on Saturday said 76 Indian military personnel were replaced by civilian employees of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited which manufactured the two helicopters gifted by India, thus also ending the suspense over the exact number of those repatriated at the insistence of Male.

However, the Maldives government has no intention of removing the doctors from India at Senahiya.