Bank of Maldives Comes To The Relief Of SMEs Affected By The Impacts Of Covid-19
Maldives has seen more local investments in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the recent years owing to the increase of opportunities to engage in such businesses. It is no surprise that these are the businesses experiencing the impacts of COVID-19 harder than the rest. The largest local bank operating in the country, Bank of Maldives Plc (BML) is committed to ensure that they do not go out of business. In this regard, they have introduced an additional COVID-relief support targeted towards SMEs yesterday.
The COVID Relief Loan by BML is provided through funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB). They have approved and granted a EUR 20 million loan agreement with the Ministry of Finance and BML in June 2020. It is provided via the resources of the External Lending Mandate (ELM), benefitting from a Comprehensive Guarantee from the European Union. It is also remarkably the first COVID-19 response related operation of the EU bank signed in the Asian region.
SMEs engaged in all industry sectors with focus on those engaging in the tourism industry of the country will be eligible for the loan which must be employing less than 3000 persons. It will allow businesses to finance projects up to MVR 15.42 million at a preferential, lower interest rate and longer maturity than what is currently existent.
The introduction of this loan is envisaged to aid in recovering the economy quicker.
(Cover Photo: BML)