Finance Ministry submits proposal to obtain additional budget-support loan

Ministry of Finance has submitted a new proposal to the Parliament’s Finance Committee, requesting for permission to obtain $25 million as a loan for budget support.

Finance Minister Abdullah Jihad said today that the decision to obtain this loan from the Indian government had been made some time ago, and that it had been included in the budget.

The government had earlier obtained a loan of MVR300 million as budget support from the Bank of Maldives (BML). This loan was obtained without Parliament approval, prompting an investigation by the Parliament into the issue.

Finance Ministry had claimed that that loan had to be obtained due to delays in receiving a $65-million loan, which had been included in the budget.

Information revealed by the Finance Committee shows that the interest rate for the $65-million loan is 2 percent and its repayment must commence within 24 months; while the MVR354,050,000 will be spent on repaying the MVR300-million-BML loan.