Male’, Maldives – Bank of Maldives (BML) has announced that they are offering additional COVID-relief support for Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The bank released a statement today stating that the bank had signed a loan agreement with EIB for EUR 20 million jointly with Ministry of Finance in June 2020 to help sustain SMEs in the tourism and industry sectors in the country, and speed up post-COVID economic recovery. According to the bank, the loan was provided from resources of the External Lending Mandate (ELM), benefitting from a Comprehensive Guarantee from the European Union.
According to BML, the new EIB COVID Relief Loan announced today by the bank would be available to SMEs with fewer than 3,000 employees. In addition to this, businesses can also finance projects up to MVR 15.42 million at a preferential, lower interest rate and longer maturity than currently available through this scheme.
“The funding from EIB provides access to finance for the many businesses in the tourism and related industries requiring additional support for their post-COVID recovery efforts. The new loan introduced today will pave the way for businesses and in turn, the economy recover faster from the impacts of the pandemic” CEO and Managing Director of BML, Tim Sawyer commented.
BML also stated that Minister of Finance, Ibrahim Ameer had thanked EIB for its cooperation on behalf of the government and people of Maldives and highlighted that the facility is the first COVID-19 response related operation of the EU bank signed in Asia which is a testament to the strong relationship between Maldives and Europe.
