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The new president of the Maldives said the state coffers had been looted and warned that the country was facing financial difficulties after being in debt with Chinese lenders as part of a boom in the country. infrastructure.
The island nation is the latest in a number of small countries where China has invested millions of dollars for the construction of highways and housing as part of its belt and road initiative.
But these projects indebted a little over 400,000 people in the country and prompted inquiries into how contracts were awarded to Chinese companies under the previous administration.
"When I assume the presidency, the financial situation of the state is precarious. The damage caused by projects carried out solely for political reasons and at a loss is enormous, "Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said after being sworn in the capital, Male, on Saturday.
Solih, an experienced politician, won the presidential elections in September against former president Abdulla Yameen, a strong man who brought the country closer to China and faced international pressure to imprison his political rivals.
"State coffers have lost several billion rufiyaa [the local currency] because of embezzlement and corruption at different levels of government, "Solih said.
He said it was not clear what the state had lost. Its transition team announced this week that it will carry out a forensic audit of transactions concluded by the Yameen administration, many of which are with Chinese state-owned companies.
The main concern of the Solih team is the country's debt to Chinese lenders for projects such as a multi-kilometer sea bridge connecting the airport to the capital, the expansion of the airport itself and large-scale housing projects on reconquered islands.
Mr. Solih's transition team said he was told that the country owed $ 1.5 billion to Chinese lenders, but feared that this amount would be much higher. Even $ 1.5 billion of debt would be more than a quarter of the country's annual gross domestic product.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the highest foreign visitor to the inauguration ceremony.
India, which has long been the main political and economic partner of the Maldives, was concerned that China's expansive diplomacy was aimed at establishing an outpost on the islands.
China has already strong roots in Sri Lanka, off the south coast of India, where it has built a port and now controls it through a debt-to-capital conversion.
