Economy

26 October 2024
Members of Elections Commission empty a ballot box to count votes during the second round of a presidential election in Male, Maldives, in September 2023.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, left, shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Oct. 7.
International relations

India approves currency swap deal, will start FTA talks with Maldives

President Muizzu meets Prime Minister Modi, seeks to repair strained ties

7 October 2024
With a debt repayment due next month, the Maldives has signed a bilateral agreement with China to bolster the economy. 
International relations

China and Maldives sign financial cooperation agreement

Countries to establish framework to support local currency settlement

13 September 2024
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, third from left, attends Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony at the presidential palace in New Delhi on June 9.
International relations

Maldives pushes to mend relations with India, eyeing tourism and aid

President thanks New Delhi for financial support; tourism minister visits India

3 August 2024
These days, most Israeli travelers to the Maldives are young surfers. With its foreign reserves falling, the archipelago is relying more than ever on its tourism sector.
International relations

Maldives weighs ban of Israeli passports but fears for tourism sector

Public anger in the Muslim-majority nation pressures government to act

15 June 2024
Mohamed Muizzu, the Maldives' president-elect, will inherit a heavy sovereign debt burden when he takes office on Nov. 17.
Economy

Maldives' new president set to take office as debt alarms intensify

World Bank, Fitch greet Muizzu with grim warnings on bills due in next few years

30 October 2023
The Maldives flag flies over the capital of Male. The Indian Ocean nation is known as a tourist destination but is also a key shipping point. (Nikkei photo)
Semiconductors

Maldives: Small island nation with big role shipping chips to Russia

$53m of chips transited Indian Ocean country 1 year after invasion, data shows

21 July 2023
From a Maldives bond payment to India's central bank meeting and Pakistan's upcoming budget, South Asia's economic strain is in focus.
Asia Insight

Beyond Sri Lanka, economic cyclone bears down on South Asia

From Pakistan to Maldives, forex and debt risks grow as inflationary headwinds build

7 June 2022
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, hosts Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba in New Delhi on April 2.
International relations

India offers carrots to 'pro-China' neighbors Sri Lanka, Nepal

Political instability in South Asia opens diplomatic doors for New Delhi

24 April 2022
The Maldivian government now expects to attract 1.5 million vacationers by the end of this year, nearing the 1.7 million tourists it received in 2019.
International relations

Russian tourists make big splash in the Maldives

Island nation's gamble to open despite pandemic could draw near-record visitors

29 July 2021
Port Louis, the Mauritian capital, is getting busier as the free trade agreement with China comes into play, but observers are concerned that the balance of trade is already in Beijing's favor by a factor of over 30. (Photo by Yuji Kuronuma)
International relations

Beijing expands Indian Ocean FTAs westward with Mauritius

Concern among small island nations over huge trade imbalances with China

2 February 2021
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. India and China see a chance to deepen their geopolitical influence in cash-strapped and increasingly vulnerable Sri Lanka and the Maldives, both strategically located in the Indian Ocean.
Asia Insight

India and China compete over Indian Ocean debt-relief diplomacy

Sri Lanka and Maldives seek bailouts as Asian giants dangle dollars to gain edge

1 December 2020
Tourists walk along a beach on Vihamanafushi Island in the Maldives in 2012.
Interview

Western tourists shrug off COVID fears to play in the Maldives

Sunseekers stay longer, unhappy with pandemic response at home, minister says

19 October 2020
The Maldives has borrowed heavily from China for infrastructure projects, including a bridge connecting the capital Male to the country's international airport on another island.  (Photo by Yuji Kuronuma)
Belt and Road

China debt trap fear haunts Maldives government

Beijing reminds Male of sovereign guarantee on a private resort deal

15 September 2020
The country's tourist industry has recovered from disasters before and hopes the new measures will revive sinking visitor numbers.
International relations

Maldives tests waters by opening resorts to COVID-weary tourists

No quarantine and free 30-day visas to greet visitors from July 15

11 July 2020
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government have their hands full as the pandemic batters an already slumping economy. (Nikkei Montage/Source photo by Reuters) 
Coronavirus

Modi buried under avalanche of COVID-19 cases and 120m jobless

India struggles as slumping economy takes another hit from spreading pandemic

23 May 2020
Indians wait to board a repatriation flight from Kuwait International Airport in Kuwait City, on May 9: There are reports that more than 400,000 Indians worldwide are trying to return home. © AFP/Jiji
Coronavirus

Coronavirus wrecks South Asian migrant livelihoods in Middle East

Some 900,000 stranded workers to test health care systems and economies

20 May 2020
Staff at INHS Asvini, an Indian navy hospital in Mumbai, attended a ceremony in early May to honor frontline health care workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. 
International relations

India sends hydroxychloroquine to Africa in war on coronavirus

Aid initiative to fill pandemic leadership failings of China and the US

18 May 2020
With exports and domestic consumption crashing, China, the world's second largest economy, could be on course for losses of up to $1.6 trillion this year, according to the ADB. 
Economy

ADB warns coronavirus threatens to chop 10% off global output

Bank says fiscal and monetary responses needed immediately to soften fallout

15 May 2020
A man attempts to fend-off a swarm of desert locusts in Kenya on Feb. 21: it is the worst outbreak to strike the country in 70 years.
Opinion

World must protect India and Pakistan from threat of locust swarms

Insects wipe out crops and pastures, damaging food supply and livelihoods

13 May 2020
A bridge construction site of the Bar-Boljare highway, pictured in June 2018: for Montenegro any concerns were far outweighed by the potential economic benefit of the new road.
Opinion

For developing world, Belt and Road Initiative is best deal around

China's infrastructure offer supports economic growth in Europe, Africa and Asia

6 May 2020
Boudhanath Stupa, a UNESCO World Heritage site seen here in this March 25 photo, is deserted following the lockdown in Kathmandu.
Coronavirus

Empty hotels in Sri Lanka and Nepal point to lengthy economic hit

Coronavirus threatens South Asia's vital tourism industry

3 April 2020
Tourist and school buses are seen at a parking lot near Kwai Chung Container Terminal in Hong Kong, April 1: The novel coronavirus outbreak has devastated the territory's tourism industry.
Economy

Pandemic to cut Asian growth to 2.2%, worst since 1998 crisis: ADB

Thailand, Hong Kong and seven other economies to shrink, China to slow sharply

3 April 2020
A child wears a mask in Thailand slum. The World Bank's forecast of a "third shock" could devastate economic growth and increase poverty across developing Asia. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Interview

World Bank warns of 'third shock' after coronavirus and trade war

Developing Asia urged to address expected poverty surge, financial distress

31 March 2020
The Maldivian government sealed off two tourist islands, Kuredu and Sandies Bathala, after a coronavirus scare among German holidaymakers. 
Coronavirus

Maldives converts luxury resorts to coronavirus quarantine centers

Idyllic island hotels repurposed after tourism industry decimated

24 March 2020