Maldives seeks loan from Bangladesh

[Bilal9]

Maldivians and Sri Lankans originally came from modern day Bangladesh and have similar genes.

That is true. The original Sinhala settlers were Bengalis led by royal personages. This migration happened during the spread of Buddhism to Sri Lanka from Bangladesh. There were very strong marine links between Sinhala and Bengal as Bengalis had a longstanding boat-building and sea-faring tradition.

Sinhalese Genetics - DNA of Sri Lanka's Sinhala speakers

 

[bluesky]

Also very few Muslims in SL are descendants of Arabs. Most of them are local Tamils who converted to Islam as far as I know.

I have met quite a few Muslim SriLankans in Japan doing businesses on precious stones. They do not look exactly Tamil. I don't think changing religion makes a person different from his root.

Anyway, being a Sri Lankan you know better. But, in historical times Arab merchants visited SL because of the availability of stones there. They were traders. Many of them had decided to stay there, and in the course of time, many may have been mixed with Tamil Muslims.

Maldives take loan from Bangladesh ?

good news but has hell frozen over?

where is Bangla getting the cash from India who in turn gets it from Russia ?

To get an appropriate answer to your questions, you will have to ask the govt of Maldives why it is seeking dollar loans from a very poor Bangladesh. There must be a good reason for that.

No one in the BD govt asks for money from India. It is India that tries to force-feed BD with a few unimportant projects. It is part of Indian foreign policy.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

We should seriously consider helping out Maldives, who are a friendly Muslim nation. They are in a really tough spot because of Covid.

I believe there are multiple direct flights every week between Male and Dhaka, lot's of well-to-do Bangladeshi tourists go to the Maldives.

Maldivians have transformed their country with tourism and that can be done in Bangladesh too. Some cooperation can be beneficial in this sense. Maldivian law enforcement and administrators are also getting trained in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's nominal GDP is only 0.4% of the global GDP. So it can not help big countries with loans, but it certainly can help the nearby smaller South Asian countries(Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan etc.) in distress. This is what a good neighboring country like Bangladesh should always do provided that it's economy remain in strong footing. I believe Bangladesh govt. will give this loan gladly. Maldives's one-third population is Bangladeshi migrants. This alone shows how deep the bond between these two countries.

 

[UKBengali]

BD should absolutely help a friendly state like Maldives.

A couple of hundred millions of US dollars would not significantly impact BD's foreign reserves that are over 40 billion US dollars. This would be massively significant to a country with just 6 billion US dollar economy.

Also as already mentioned 1/3rd of Maldivian population is of BD migrants and so in effect BD is just helping itself by helping Maldives.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

Why go all the way to Bangladesh for money when India is just few kms away.....

Maldives do not want any meddling from New Delhi. India do not have good reputation in this regard. After giving some loan, your govt. will act like, they own Maldives and Maldives should be always ready to entertain every whims of what may come Delhi. Even average Indians may turn arrogant against Maldives. I have seen many Indian online call Bangladesh ungrateful for ''receiving aid money'' form India yet not acting like a servant! They got this attitude after India gave some Line of Credit to Bangladesh (very small part of those actually released so far). BD did not ask India to give those LoC, India gave in it's own volition to counter Chinese money in BD. But many Indians think, India provided Bangladesh a lifeline! and Bangladesh should be eternally grateful for that!

Indians have a very bad habit of reminding others about 'help' they may have provided in any period of history. Indians can not talk with any Bangladeshi without boasting or at least reminding how ''India gave freedom to Bangladesh in 1971''. Imagine Americans and British always reminding the French on how they have liberated France from Nazi occupation during ww2. How much pissed off the average French would be! But Americans and British are enough civilized to not to do that, unlike Indians.

 

[bluesky]

I heard half of Maldives' population is already Bangladeshis. If true, BD should make Maldives it's protectorate state.

No, no. Our people go there to work in the tourist sector. Maldives' tourist industry is down now because its tourist facilities remain empty because of the pandemic and so it needs some help from BD.

By the way, the Sea level is rising in that small country and it wanted to import soil/ silt from BD to raise the level of the islands. I don't know what really happened to that. Our govt agreed to help the Maldives unequivocally with silty soil from our river system on the condition that the latter must pay the dredging and shipping costs to the relevant parties.

It finally did not probably materialize because of political instability there. I hope UN and others would help that country to realize its aspiration to raise the ground level by a few feet.

Meanwhile, BD must help it with dollars and other necessary goods like life-saving medicines, etc.

 

[Black Tornado]

India will be taking loans from Bangladesh soon too, don't you worry.

Pakistan may end up taking aid from Bangladesh in 2030: former World Bank adviser

Abid Hasan, a former adviser to the World Bank for the Pakistan Programme, has praised Bangladesh's economic growth while highlighting how Pakistan has gone around the world with a "begging bowl" with a possibility of taking aid from Bangladesh in a decade.

www.thedailystar.net

 

[mb444]

BD should absolutely help a friendly state like Maldives.

A couple of hundred millions of US dollars would not significantly impact BD's foreign reserves that are over 40 billion US dollars. This would be massively significant to a country with just 6 billion US dollar economy.

Also as already mentioned 1/3rd of Maldivian population is of BD migrants and so in effect BD is just helping itself by helping Maldives.

BD reserves are fairly useless sitting in the bank. Whilst it is about the same level as BDs annual imports that is more than enough.

BoB invests these on the money markets and gets some interest but at the end of the day it is mainly not doing much. All that happens with reserves is that it contracts the available amount of Taka in circulation. This reduces the taka velocity and economic activity unless BoB prints money and increases inflation.

Reserves are a double endged sword, it is not always good. Making sovereign loans is a means of making this excess money work for us and added bonus increases BDs sovereign rating, advances goodwill in the region and raises BDs global perception. Fiscally this would move reserves from a static asset to a "liability" and gives BoB room to maneuver vis-a-vis inflation control.

Last point neither Sri Lanka or Maldives would ever default on such sovereign arrangement without black listing themselves in global finance arena.

Such loans makes sense from BD perspective from every point of view. These are not money that BD can use for capital investment in country, it can only invest in money market or make cast iron guaranteed investment via sovereign arrangements.

 

[vishwambhar]

India will be taking loans from Bangladesh soon too, don't you worry.

You better worry about your next interest installment on the principle loan amount from IMF and others..... for that installment start looking out towards your iron biraders.....

Pakistan may end up taking aid from Bangladesh in 2030: former World Bank adviser

Abid Hasan, a former adviser to the World Bank for the Pakistan Programme, has praised Bangladesh's economic growth while highlighting how Pakistan has gone around the world with a "begging bowl" with a possibility of taking aid from Bangladesh in a decade.

www.thedailystar.net

You hit the nail on the head.....

 

[Bengal71]

BD should absolutely help a friendly state like Maldives.

A couple of hundred millions of US dollars would not significantly impact BD's foreign reserves that are over 40 billion US dollars. This would be massively significant to a country with just 6 billion US dollar economy.

Also as already mentioned 1/3rd of Maldivian population is of BD migrants and so in effect BD is just helping itself by helping Maldives.

Instead of giving money to Sri Lanka it should be given to Maldives.

 

[UKBengali]

Instead of giving money to Sri Lanka it should be given to Maldives.

BD can help both at this time.

It does not need to choose.

 

[Destranator]

Instead of giving money to Sri Lanka it should be given to Maldives.

Sri Lanka is a bigger market and possibly a future military base (highly unlikely but not impossible) - think strategically.

 

[Bengal71]

BD can help both at this time.

It does not need to choose.

Sri Lankan Buddhists are Muslim haters.

 

[Destranator]

Sri Lankan Buddhists are Muslim haters.

Everyone hates Muslims including Muslims. Nothing unique. We have to live with it.

 

[bluesky]

You better worry about your next interest installment on the principle loan amount from IMF and others..... for that installment start looking out towards your iron biraders.....

Who asked you to worry about BD? BD has a reserve of $44 billion in London. I expect this year's loan repayment will be just $2.5 billion (to be paid in 2022).

So, you can do your own math now. Note also that even after paying the loan money, BD reserves will increase because our exports and remittances are both going to touch the sky.