Since coming to power last year, Maldives' President Mohamed Muizzu has reoriented the country towards China. Without naming the archipelago's main lender, the IMF said the Maldives remained "at high risk of external and overall debt distress" without "significant policy changes". Official data showed the Maldives' foreign debt reaching $4.038 billion last year, about 118 percent of gross domestic product and up nearly $250 million from 2022. As of June 2023, the Export-Import Bank of China owned 25.2 percent of the Maldives' external debt and was the country's biggest single lender, Maldives finance ministry figures showed. Debt-burdened neighbour Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt in 2022 after a foreign exchange crisis that brought months of food and fuel shortages.
