The Parliament of the Maldives has approved the decision to allow the government to sell more bonds than allocated in the State Budget for 2020.
The parliament permitted to increase the number of bonds sold following a request by the government, as the prospective sale of bonds to State Bank of India (SBI) may lead to the figure in the budget being exceeded. 65 parliamentarians voted in favour of allowing the government to sell more bonds.
In a letter sent to the parliament by Maldives Monitory Authority (MMA), Governor Ali Hashim stated the amount of bonds the government can sell to foreign and local parties has been prescribed in the budget and hence, parliament is approval is required to increase the number of bonds sold. He noted the net figure of state bonds must not exceed the budgeted amount of USD 356 million unless otherwise approved from the parliament. The letter further said the amounts would be over the stated figure should the government decide to issue a bond to SBI.
Following the request from government, the parliament permitted the government to issue bonds to SBI on the condition that total bonds issued remain below USD 390 million.