Maldivian President Mohammed Muizzu may soon visit India. His visit to India is seen as an effort to improve relations with Maldives. But even before that he had already committed fraud. In fact, before visiting India, the Maldivian President made a big deal with China. Maldives has signed a trade agreement with China. His move may increase tension between India and Maldives because his visit to India was seen as an attempt to improve relations, which may not be possible now. Let us know what the problem is…
Chinese bank to open in Maldives
The Maldives has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the People’s Bank of China for current account transactions and direct investment in their respective currencies. The Maldives also said that it may soon open a branch of China’s largest bank, ICBC, there. Maldivian Minister of Economy Mohammed Saeed said that work is underway to open a branch of China’s largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in the Maldives.
largest trade agreement
Saeed said that talks are still ongoing in this regard. Let us tell you that China is the largest trading partner of Maldives with bilateral trade worth over 700 million US dollars. Maldivian state media PSMNews said here on Friday that the agreement between the Maldivian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) aims to promote the settlement of transactions in local currencies. This will help facilitate trade and investment relations between the two countries.
Maldives is going through an economic crisis
The Maldives economy is in a crisis. It is also hoping for help from India. Recently, when the Indian Foreign Minister travelled to the Maldives, an agreement was reached to introduce the UPI there. Not only this, the Maldives is expecting to receive $400 million immediately from India under the RBI’s foreign exchange swap programme. India had granted a credit line of $800 million to the Maldives in 2019, through which it can take out further long-term loans. However, the Maldives has not made any official comment on this so far. The Maldives will also have to pay $25 million to India in October. The Maldives’ debt has reached 110 percent of its GDP. There are only $437 million left in the country’s foreign exchange reserves, so only 6 weeks of imports can be organised.
