President Ibrahim Mohamed has revealed that loan facilities have been arranged for 98 business ventures under the economic relief programme implemented by the government to mitigate the losses caused as a result of the economic downturn faced by the country owing to COVID-19 pandemic.
The government decided to provide loans through national bank, Bank of Maldives (BML) to assist businesses and tourist resorts in overcoming the losses caused to the companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his address to the nation on Wednesday night, President Solih said loans for 157 parties have been approved until now, and disbursements are already in effect for 98 out of the 157 parties. Under the programme, each resort will be receive a maximum of MVR 7.71 million.
The president also noted that 134 loans have been approved from the 396 loan applications submitted by self-employed parties and small and medium businesses enterprises through SME Development Finance Corporation (SDFC).
President Solih detailed that a guideline has been developed on the economic recovery programme implemented by the government and issuance of loans for the resorts. The guideline will be shared with BML, said the president. However, he did not provide details of the selection criteria for providing the loans and the loan amounts issued.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Vice-president Fisal Naseem and Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer
