Male: India has extended US$ 150 million foreign currency swap support to the Maldives.

The Indian High Commission in Maldives said US$ 150 million will be issued to the Maldives central bank under the US$ 400 million currency swap agreement signed between India and Maldives in July 2019. The High Commission said the arrangement was activated to help Maldives mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Indian Prime Minister recently discussed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and updated each other on their countries’ respective situations in regard to COVID-19, and on the measures they are taking in response. The President and Prime Minister also discussed the possibility of the Maldives securing additional assistance from India to contain the virus. The currency swap agreement was activated within a week after the discussion.

The two governments are also in discussion to extend the duration of the currency swap facility by an additional year.
245 cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Maldives thus far. The numbers have been rising rapidly since the detection of the first case of local transmission on April 15.

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