BML holds talks with global investors as it seeks to raise USD 300 million

The Bank of Maldives (BML) is holding global investor meetings as it seeks to raise up to USD 300 million, reports Bloomberg News.

The news outlet, quoting Abdulla Hassan, director for financial strategy and planning at BML, said the bank’s officials have been meeting fund managers across Asia, the Middle East and Europe to gather feedback for a US dollar sukuk.

Hassan told Bloomberg News that the bank is looking to raise up to USD 300 million, which will be guaranteed by the Maldivian government of the Maldives.

Dubai-headquartered Mashreqbank PSC is helping arrange the investor meetings.

The transaction, if it pulls through, will mark BML’s first foray into international capital markets, and may help mitigate the impact of the war in the Middle East.

The US-Israeli war on Iran, which erupted on February 28, has disrupted travel and raised global fuel prices – dealing a heavy blow to the Maldives’ main economic driver – tourism.

Marcus Yiu, an analyst at Moody’s Ratings, told Bloomberg News that travel distortion along with high fuel costs will not only weaken the growth outlook, but drive balance of payment pressures as tourism receipts fall and the import bill increases.

He warned that it could weigh on external liquidity and erode foreign exchange reserves.

Hassan told Bloomberg News that the potential funding isn’t directly linked to the current headwinds facing the tourism sector, but that the money would help because it increases the amount of foreign currency available in the economy.

The new international passenger terminal at the Velana International Airport (VIA) has increased annual arrivals capacity to 7 million passengers, prompting the government to allocate more islands for resort development.

Hassan said that this would require significant foreign currency investment.

He said that if the bank is able to raise dollar funding, it will inject new cash into the economy at critical time for the sector.

“The whole economy will enjoy this liquidity and this is an indirect way of addressing the issue,” he told Bloomberg News.

Through the Ministry of Finance, the Maldives government holds a 50.8 percent stake in BML, with other state-linked entities also owning shares.

Moody’s Yiu said that he saw little sign of the government itself being able to tap the market, due to the “prohibitive” premium it would need to offer to lure investors.

In April, the country directly repaid — rather than refinanced — a USD 500 million sukuk, suggesting capital-markets access is constrained. It also settled a USD 400 million debt to India.

The government has been seeking to rebuild its foreign currency reserves since they hit a low in 2024.