Switching to a softer tone, Maldives President Muizzu stated that India is a closest ally and asked his country for debt relief.

Maldives: Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said on Thursday that India will remain his country’s “closest ally” and called for debt relief to his country weeks after his anti-India rhetoric. Notably, the archipelago’s land was worth approx. $400.9 million to New Delhi at the end of last year. The pro-China Maldivian leader has been making headlines since taking oath as president by pursuing a tough stance on India. He demanded that Indian Army troops operating three aviation platforms be returned to India from his country by May 10.

On Thursday, Muizzu, in his first interview with local media since taking office, said India has played a major role in providing aid to the Maldives and implemented the “largest number” of projects.

India will remain the Maldives’ closest ally, he said, stressing that there was no doubt about that, Maldives news portal Edition.mv said in a report that carried excerpts of Muizzu’s interview to Dhivehi sister publication Mihaaru.’

Muizzu’s comments praising India came after the first batch of Indian soldiers left the island this month as planned. On May 10, Muizzu had demanded that all 88 soldiers manning the three Indian aviation platforms leave the country.

India has been providing humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of Maldives in recent years using two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft.

The proximity of the Maldives to India, barely 70 nautical miles from Minicoy Island in Lakshadweep and 300 nautical miles from the west coast of the mainland, and its location at the hub of commercial sea lanes passing through the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) it has an important meaning. strategic importance.

During the interview, Muizzu urged India to facilitate debt relief measures for the Maldives as it repays “the hefty loans taken over from successive governments.”

“The conditions we have inherited are such that very large loans are being made from India. That is why we are conducting discussions to explore leniency options in the repayment structure of these loans.

“So, instead of halting ongoing projects… to rush ahead with them, I see no reason for any adverse impact (on Maldives-India relations),” Muizzu added.

Muizzu’s conciliatory comments towards India came ahead of the parliamentary elections in the Maldives due to take place in mid-April.

He said the Maldives has received significant loans from India, which are heavier than can be supported by the Maldivian economy. “As a result, he is currently in discussions with the Indian government to explore options to repay the loans, to the best of Maldives’ ability,” the news portal said, quoting him.

Muizzu, who expressed hope that India would “facilitate debt relief measures in the repayment of these loans,” also said he expressed his appreciation to the Indian government for their contributions.

During the previous regime, led by the government of pro-India leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the total amount of loans from the Export and Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) was USD 1.4 million (MVR 22 million).

“Taken together, the amount owed by the Maldives to India at the end of last year amounted to MVR 6.2 billion, he said.

At the current rate of 1 MVR equal to USD 16, this is approximately USD 400.9 million.

“During our meeting, I also informed Prime Minister Modi that I had no intention of stopping ongoing projects. Instead, I have expressed my desire to strengthen and expedite them,” he said, referring to his conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Dubai on the sidelines of the COP28 Dubai summit in December 2023.

“I suggested that a high-level committee be established, one designed for quick decision-making, even in the bridge project, to ensure speedy work. The same applies to Hanimaadhoo airport,” he added.

Replying to a question about Indian military personnel, Muizzu called this “the only point of contention” that arose with India over the presence of Indian military personnel in the Maldives and added that India too had accepted the fact and agreed to return the military personnel Pull. .

“It is not nice to dismiss or ignore aid from one country to another as useless,” he said, asserting that he had not taken any action or made any statements that could strain the relationship between the two countries to make.

“Even if they are troops from another country, we will treat them the same. I said that very clearly. It is nothing personal but rather a matter of our national security,” he added.

Muizzu stated that his government acted to find through deliberations the quickest and most prudent solution to address the issue of the Indian Army in the Maldives.

He defended his agreement with India to use civilians instead of military personnel to fly the helicopters and Dornier aircraft, saying the former government of Abdulla Yameen, which demanded that Indian troops be deployed, failed to do so was successful as the Indian personnel remained in the Maldives.

While working towards the same goals in both cases, Muizzu indicated that results can be achieved through discussions and consultation. “Everything can be achieved through discussions and consultations. That’s what I believe,” he said.

Meanwhile, amid his weak ties with India, Muizzu had pursued a clear pro-China policy, starting with his visit to Beijing in January. During his visit to China, he signed a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Partnership and signed 20 agreements to support the Maldives’ infrastructure following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China also announced a $130 million subsidy and promised to send more Chinese tourists to the tourism-dependent Maldives.

After returning from China, Muizzu, without naming any country, said the Maldives may be a small country but “that’s not a license for anyone to bully us.”

Muizzu also terminated a hydrography agreement with India, claiming that the Indian Ocean does not belong to any particular country.

By Freddy Pawle for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 00:48 EDT, March 19, 2024 | Updated: 1:00 AM EDT, March 19, 2024

A WOMAN has revealed the trick to starting investing even if you don’t have thousands of pounds in a bank account.

Beth Fuller has helped people sort out their finances on social media after paying off £8,000 of debt in a year.

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The money-saving whiz has dished on everything from bad money habits you need to quit to the best ways to save your money.

Now she has revealed how to make money without working.

She said: “So I grew up with a grandpa who put money in cups in the cupboard.

“And then I’m pretty sure my mom has money in the freezer or something, but I’m basically as new as new can be to investing month-by-month.”

Beth went on to explain that people often think they need to have a few thousand pounds in the bank to get started, which is actually not the case.

“I had this idea ages ago that you had to have tons and tons of money to invest, and there was no point in doing it if you were only using small amounts,” she explained.

But she said this couldn’t be further from the truth.

“With investing you’re basically playing the long game,” she added.

Instead of worrying about how much you need to put down right away, you should focus more on how much time the money has left to invest.

Beth added: “For me, I don’t have a lot of disposable income to play with because childcare is a lot of fun, so I’m starting with £100.”

While some may not think it’s worth it, Beth said she was very happy she started investing, even if it was a smaller amount than most people.

She said she used the Trading 212 account to invest her money – which is part of the Compensation scheme for financial services who compensates customers if the company goes bankrupt.

Beth revealed that she would add little bits and pieces often to grow her investments over time.

The key for Beth was to know she had enough money in her account to know she didn’t need that £100 in her bank account, rather than taking a big risk.

The clip was posted to her TikTok account @morebethmful was a hit with her viewers.

People were quick to chime in on the comments praising Beth for her relatable financial situation.

One person wrote, “I’m so intrigued by this! I’m not in that stable place yet, but when I am, I want to think about it.”

Another commented: “Yes Beth, this is great! In the industry we literally have an expression for this ‘time in the market, not timing the market’.”

‘What are you investing in? the 100 pound it… I want to do this but I’m scared,” wrote a third.

Meanwhile, a fourth said: “You are so real and inspiring to me! I think it’s because you’re ‘closer’ to where I am on the journey, you know?! I see these people saying they need to put in £300 a month and I’m like where mate?”

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• The company was placed into receivership weeks ago
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By Pranav Harish for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 4:37 PM EST, February 21, 2024 | Updated: 8:28 PM EST, February 21, 2024

Experts are sounding alarms that the distressed US commercial real estate market could trigger a new banking crisis, if default rates on commercial mortgages rise sharply. 

Some $929 billion of outstanding commercial mortgages held by lenders and investors will mature in 2024, or 20 percent of the $4.7 trillion total outstanding debt, according to recent data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Meanwhile, higher interest rates are battering commercial real estate (CRE) property values across the board, with office buildings hit particularly hard due to the enduring popularity of remote and hybrid working.  

Disturbingly, about 14 percent of all CRE loans, and 44 percent of office loans, appear to be ‘underwater,’ with current property values that are less than the outstanding loan balances, according to a recent working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research.

‘If nothing changes — if interest rates remain elevated and property values do not improve — we do view defaults at the rate of the Great Recession, and in fact even higher, as quite a possibility,’ one of the co-authors, Columbia Business School professor Tomasz Piskorski, told DailyMail.com.

If default rates on CRE loans jumped to 10 percent, the study estimates that 231 US banks, with aggregate assets of $1 trillion, would see the market value of their assets fall below the value of their customer deposits.

That situation could spur panicked customers to withdraw their uninsured deposits, in the same kind of rapid bank run that triggered the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last year.

‘Because of the high interest rates, there are dozens to hundreds of banks that are at the brink of solvency. So this additional commercial real estate distress puts them into the group of banks that potentially are susceptible to runs by depositors,’ Piskorski said in a Zoom interview this week. 

‘This is the icing on the cake that can really create a problem for quite a few banks, mainly smaller and mid-sized banks,’ he added. 

Piskorski said that he and his co-authors view a commercial mortgage default rate of 10 percent or more as ‘quite likely’ given the current share of underwater loans.

Unlike home mortgages, where the principle is paid down over time, most CRE loans are interest-only — meaning that when they mature, they must either be paid in full or refinanced. 

Given that many outstanding CRE loans were issued when interest rates were lower, even properties that are not underwater may struggle to find a bank willing to refinance. Others may struggle to meet higher interest payments.

For consumers, Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary advises avoiding small regional banks, and keeping deposits in large national banks that are ‘too big to fail’

‘Regional banks are doomed,’ he wrote in a recent column for DailyMail.com. ‘Start moving your money now.’ 

Others fear contagion from a possible banking crisis could threaten the broader financial system.  

A recent report from a financial regulator established in the wake of the Great Recession listed the commercial real estate market as first among financial risks to the US economy.

‘As losses from a CRE loan portfolio accumulate, they can spill over into the broader financial system,’ states the annual report from the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

FSOC warned of the potential for a ‘downward CRE valuation spiral’ in which sales of financially distressed properties flood the market, reducing the market values of nearby properties.

Such a downward spiral could send other commercial mortgages underwater, raising default rates and even reducing municipalities’ property tax revenues.

Why are commercial property values down?

Overall, US commercial property values are down 21 percent from their recent peak in March 2022, when interest rates began to rise, according to real estate advisory firm Green Street.

Office values have dropped most sharply, down 35 percent from that peak, but the decline has hit across the board, from apartment buildings and strip malls to healthcare and self-storage facilities. 

Dylan Burzinski, an analyst and head of office sector research at Green Street, told DailyMail.com that the 35 percent decline in values reflected trends in the highest-quality ‘Class A’ office sector, and that lower-tier properties are down more than 60 percent from pre-pandemic levels.

‘The office sector is facing many headwinds,’ said Burzinski, citing the shift to remote work, a general economic slowdown and layoffs, and tightening debt capital markets as factors battering office values. 

Four years on, remote and hybrid working arrangements remain popular with white collar workers, who cite the convenience factor and significant savings in time and money on commuting.

That has helped drive office vacancy rates to record highs. Last month, the US office vacancy rate hit 19.6 percent, according to Moody Analytics, the highest at least since 1979, which is as far back as Moody’s records go.

While property values in the office sector have been hardest hit, remote work also has the potential for ‘negative spillover’ in other commercial real estate, experts say.

Urban retail faces pressure as fewer people travel for work, multifamily housing units could see lower demand as the need to live close to the office declines, and hotels are under threat of declining business travel.

Piskorski shared exclusively with DailyMail.com his unpublished research indicating that 12 percent of all multi-family property mortgages are currently underwater. 

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes have also weighed heavily on commercial property values across the board, by raising borrowing costs and reducing demand from potential buyers. 

‘Interest rates decrease the value of bank assets, but also decrease the value of commercial buildings,’ said Piskorski.

‘Many of these commercial buildings have long term leases. So when the interest rates increase, the value of the cash flow from these buildings is lower,’ he explained. 

‘Yes, the office is absolutely the worst sector, there’s no doubt about it,’ he added. ‘But even if you don’t have an office loan, as a bank, it doesn’t mean you are off the hook.’

Why are banks at risk if commercial mortgage defaults rise?

Traditional banks hold roughly half of the $929 billion in commercial mortgages set to hit maturity this year. That total is a 28 percent increase from the $728 billion that matured in 2023, according to MBA data.

CRE loans account for about quarter of assets for an average bank, and about $2.7 trillion of bank assets in the aggregate, according to the NBER study. 

The study found that, if default rates on CRE loans had jumped to 10 percent in early 2022, when interest rates were still low, every US bank would have been able to absorb the shock without risk of failure.

But with the Fed’s benchmark rate at 5.33 percent, up from near zero two years ago, the aggregate market value of assets held by US banks has decreased by roughly $2 trillion, according to the study.

The authors argue that many banks have not properly adjusted their portfolios to manage for risk, and warn that hundreds of lenders face insolvency if the default rate on CRE loans jumped to 10 percent.

Those banks could face collapse if customers with deposits of more than $250,000, which is the maximum guaranteed by the FDIC, seek to move their uninsured deposits.  

‘What we have shown in the research is that hundreds of banks could potentially fail, if uninsured depositors withdraw their money,’ said Piskorski. 

‘There is a good equilibrium when they don’t. For that good equilibrium to happen, the uninsured depositors need to have confidence in the banking system, and this is what the regulators are trying to instill,’ he added. 

A 10 percent default rate or more is far from assured, but Piskorski and his co-authors view it as quite possible, given the high share of commercial mortgages that are already underwater. 

The delinquency rate on commercial mortgages, a leading indicator for defaults, was 3.2 percent in December, up from 2.7 percent the prior quarter, according to the MBA. 

If defaults do spike, the banks most at risk of insolvency would be smaller regional lenders with a high proportion of CRE loans on their balance sheet.

Banking titans such as JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citigroup, would not be at risk, as commercial mortgages account for a small fraction of their balance sheet. 

Small banks account for nearly 70 percent of all CRE loans outstanding, according to research from Apollo. 

Among smaller banks with significant CRE loan portfolios, lenders with significant shares of uninsured deposits would be the most susceptible to bank runs.

The recent trouble at New York Community Bancorp sounded alarm bells for the sector, after the lender posted a surprise fourth-quarter loss due to its loans tied to the stressed commercial real estate sector.

Since reporting the higher provision for bad loans and slashing its dividend on January 31, the market value of NYCB has dropped by nearly $4 billion, or roughly 50 percent. 

Still, some observers expect the banking system to weather rising defaults on CRE loans without widespread failures.

Morningstar DBRS analysts predicted CRE woes will weigh on US banks’ financial performance, but expect the process to stretch over multiple years, with losses spread out as lenders work through maturing loans.

‘Some of these loans are well positioned and will be refinanced, some will be extended and some will go bad,’ the ratings agency wrote in a recent note.

A mum has told how she went from staggering £16,000 in debt to making an extra £1.2k every month by shopping at Costco.

Jessica Milioto was once in massive debt, but now the money-conscious mom is not only making a lot of money, but also teaching others how to do the same.

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After discovering her son had sensory processing issues, Jessica decided to quit her job as a nurse and live at home with her toddler — a career she had had for more than a decade.

“I just stopped because my son needed me,” she bravely shared the heartwarming story her TikTok page.

“But I knew I had to make money, so I had to find a way, and I came across affiliate marketing – and that's how I started.”

After researching this a little further, Jessica found a course that cost her just over £5, and the rest is history – the mum claimed she is now raking in more than ever before as a full-time nurse.

But although the mother-of-two, believed to be from the US, has now paid off her debt in full, it hasn't been an easy ride as she opened up about the initial problems.

''The hardest thing for me was to get out of my comfort zone. “I am not the type of person who posts on social media, so it was very difficult for me to create content and publish it on social media for the world to judge me.”

However, Jessica remained 'consistent' – which she says is a key factor in the success, and now rakes in an extra £1.2k when shopping at Costco.

Through TikTok, the savvy mom claimed that Amazon will pay her a hefty amount of money to simply review the products she has purchased.

All she has to do is send videos of her sharing her thoughts about the item to the online retailer and the brand then adds the clips to the product description, she explained in the video.

“Amazon places your videos on product pages and when someone views your review and purchases, you receive a commission.”

Jessica continued in the caption, “Now I teach others how I did it and made $11,000 [£8.7k] in the past months!

“I want you to stop telling yourself that you can't do this, or that you're not an influencer.

''Those kinds of conversations don't bring you any closer to your goals.

''The real question is… ARE YOU READY TO START?!

YOU are the only thing standing in the way of a very different financial future

Jessica Miliotothe United States

“You can do this too if you are willing to trust the process, do the work, and keep your goals in mind!”

Three years ago the family found themselves in huge debt of as much as £16,000, a period she described as 'living paycheck to paycheck, trying to figure out where we could cut back'.

But despite eliminating their Netflix subscription and other expenses such as date nights and self-care, this only saved them £80 – and they realized the extra money 'wasn't enough'.

Jessica shared the story on her page and said the only thing that helped was “creating multiple streams of income.”

''I started with affiliate marketing and digital products and eventually started writing reviews for Amazon.

“Fast forward to today…I make 20,000 a month and have paid off all debt and fired my husband from his grueling job.”

She added: 'I'm not going to write a long caption to convince you that this can work for you too…

“But YOU are the only thing standing in the way of a very different financial future.”

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