(Bloomberg) --

Air Seychelles, straddled with more than 800 million rupees ($38 million) of debt, is a “great problem” for its home country, the Nation newspaper reported Saturday on its website, citing President Wavel Ramkalawan.

In his state-of-the-nation address, Ramkalawan said the airline’s international routes had contributed to the debt load, and queried whether the company could boost profitability by focusing on domestic services, according to the Victoria-based newspaper.

An Indian Ocean archipelago of 115 islands and 98,462 people, the Seychelles is grappling with a lack of revenue because of the Covid-19 pandemic. To salvage its economy, the popular tourist destination has begun a vaccination campaign and plans to reopen borders from March.

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