Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer has said the recently announced government stimulus loan schemes have the lowest interest rate out of any loan schemes introduced in the Maldives.
The government has announced two loan schemes under its COVID-19 Recovery Economic Stimulus Scheme, which are the COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Loan and the COVID-19 Sustainable Stimulus Loan. The COVID-19 Sustainable Stimulus Loan was introduced jointly by the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Maldives (BML).
Finance Minister Ameer said relief loans worth USD 24 million will be issued with a grace period of one year, and that the loans have the lowest cost of borrowing compared to loans issued by other banks in the country. He said the relief loans have been introduced following the latest lockdown and noted that BML had also previously introduced packages worth USD 24 million with assistance from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The government has introduced numerous stimulus packages to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and has so far distributed relief loans worth USD 110 million. The finance ministry has estimated the economy of the Maldives will grow by 18% and recover to pre-COVID-19 levels by the end of 2021.