What looks like a bond and acts like a bond but isn't a bond?

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 28 October 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

The Maldives is a small island nation struggling with a heavy debt load. Its borrowing includes $500 million worth of something called sukuk. These are bond-like investments that don't pay interest, to be in line with Islamic law. Today on the show, we explain how sukuk works, how it fits into the larger world of Islamic finance and what might happen if the Maldives can't pay back its debt.

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0:00.0	Hey it's Wailen real quick before the show it's been a wild exhausting election
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1:13.2	Here's the show.
1:14.6	NPR. This is the indicator from Planet Money.
1:27.0	I'm Darren Woods.
1:28.0	And I'm Whelan Wong.
1:29.0	Back in 2021, the small island nation of the Maldives needed money.
1:34.0	The country relies heavily on tourism, which dried up with the onset of the pandemic.
1:39.0	The economy shrank over 30% in 2020.
	...

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