The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has signed a USD200 million Currency Swap Agreement with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Deputy Governor at MMA Ahmed Imad signed the agreement between the Maldives and India. The agreement will be arranged under the existing Framework on Currency Swap Arrangement for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Countries. The swap facility will allow the MMA to make multiple withdrawals up to a maximum limit of USD200 million from the RBI, as a backstop line of funding for short-term foreign exchange liquidity requirements.
The USD400 million currency swap facility is part of the USD 1.4 billion economic packages announced by India for the Maldives in December 2018 during the state visit of President Solih. Other components of the USD1.4 billion economic assistance package include USD50 million direct budget support which was extended in 2019, subscription of Maldivian Treasury Bills worth USD150 million by the State Bank of India (SBI) which was completed in 2019, and USD800 million Line of Credit under which eight large infrastructure projects have been identified and are in various stages of implementation.
Maldives is the only SAARC country other than Bhutan, which has been extended a USD400 million currency swap facility by India.