Colombo: The Maldives foreign minister says his country needs to restructure its massive debt to China, which he says has put the Indian ocean archipelago in a difficult situation.
Abdulla Shahid said the country's Chinese debt currently totals about $1.4 billion.
He told reporters in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Thursday that he is currently consulting with the Chinese government on this.
The Chinese loans have been given for housing projects, a bridge connecting the airport island with the capital island, Male, and for some state-owned enterprises. Shahid said the loans were "unreasonable borrowings" by the previous government.
Since the government of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih came into power last year, Maldives has begun a shift away from China toward traditional ally India.
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