China asks Maldives to repay loan, an eye-opener for all debtor-nations?
Even as the Government of President Ibrahim Solih is battling Covid-19 pandemic, facing heat from the opposition for the government’s India front, and deciphering when to reopen its tourism sector, other issues are beginning to dog the nation. Now, the Solih leadership should also be concerned about the short, medium and long-term fallouts of China asking the Maldivian state to repay at least an instalment of a massive loan granted to a local resort-owner.China’s Exim Bank has asked the Maldivian government to pay up $10 million (MVR 154 million), possibly an unpaid instalment from the total $127 million loan to former Yameen ally and parliamentarian, ‘Sun’ Ahmed Shyam against ‘sovereign guarantee.’Generally, ‘sovereign guarantee’ is extended only to government sector loans, and the guaran