OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has pledged to grant a loan of USD 20 million under the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) Emergency Loan to assist in the current situation of COVID-19 in the Maldives.
OFID's governing board has approved more than USD 390 million of new funding to support operations in developing countries across the globe. OFID revealed a USD 20 million PSIP emergency loan will be granted to support the Economic Recovery Plan launched by the government of the Maldives that includes a package of economic relief measures aimed at mitigating the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in light of the anticipated downturn in tourism. The loan to the Maldives is included in the approved funding to be distributed to the public sector to be distributed in Egypt, Mali, Nicaragua, and Tanzania.
OFID was established in 1976 by the then 13 member countries of OPEC, including the UAE, to provide aid to the developing countries. In addition to OFID, several global financial institutions have provided a number of emergency financial grants to the Maldives, including USD 17.3 million from the World Bank, USD 600,000 from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and USD 3.28 million from the European Union (EU) in support to mitigate effects by the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.