China offers Maldives US$8.2 million in grant aid: President’s Office
30 Nov 2013, 12:32 PM
The President’s Office (PO) has announced China will give the Maldives 50 million yuan (US$8.2 million) in grant aid “for the implementation of developmental projects and the advancement of public services.”
The announcement was made following a meeting between Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon and President Abdulla Yameen with the Chinese Ambassador to the Maldives, Yu Hongyao.
The grant aid comes at a time the Maldives is facing dire economic circumstances, with the government unable to afford its huge recurrent expenditure on a bloated civil service and failing to pay millions of dollars owed to state-owned companies for services such as oil and electricity.
The State Trading Organisation (STO), the country’s main importer and wholesaler which brings in most of the Maldives’ basic commodities such as food and oil, warned of oil shortages in November after it was unable to pay a US$20 million debt to suppliers.
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