Government schools in Male’ City will be used as assets in the Sukuk issuance program to earn revenue for the state, the President’s Office announced Monday.
While disputing reports that government schools are being utilized as security to sell bonds, President’s Office Spokesperson Mabrook Azeez indicated that select Male’ schools, along with other government assets, will be used to sell Sukuk.
He stressed that utilizing it as a mortgage to sell bonds is not the same as using it as an asset to issue Sukuk.
Iskandhar School, Thaajuddeen School, Giyaasuddin School, Imaadhuddin School, Kalaafaanu School, Rehendhi School, buildings used for EPS and MES, and CHS are among the schools held as assets to sell Sukuk for the government.
Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer earlier stated that the government intends to sell another sukuk before the end of the year to help manage the state’s expenses.
He informed a local news outlet that, as part of the current administration’s program to sell USD 1 billion in sukuk, the government will be in a position to issue sukuk next year as well.
The Maldives government earned a total of USD 300 million in sukuk sales in April with Dharumavantha Hospital as an asset. The sukuk, worth around USD 387 million with interest, must be repaid after five years. A total of USD 191 million from the sukuk sales was spent on repaying the state’s debts.
The Dharumavantha Hospital property was used as a mortgaging technique for the issuing of government sukuk, which is not done in the normal approach. If the loan is unable to be returned, the property will not be sold to acquire funds, as is common in such mortgaging situations.
