Male’, Maldives – SME Development Finance Corporation (SDFC) has granted loans worth MVR 351.8 million to small and middle class businesses in association with the Finance Ministry as part of the Economic Recovery Package of the Government.
According to the statistics revealed by the Finance Ministry, 2,089 small or middle class businesses were granted loans worth MVR 351.8 million till the 21st of this month. This includes 1,435 businesses as well as 654 self employed individuals. While loans worth MVR 332.2 million were granted to businesses, loans worth MVR 19.6 million was granted to self employed workers.
The “Viyafaari Ehee” loans are granted to businesses for the purpose of giving out salaries, paying rent and utilities with an interest rate of 6% and grace period of 7 months. Eligible businesses and self-employed individuals can apply for the loan online through the SDFC website.
The Government also recently introduced a recovery package issued through Bank of Maldives for large businesses. The eligibility criteria for businesses states that applicants should have been profitable in 2019, and that they must not have any non-performing facilities at any financial institution. Resorts have the same criteria, with an extra criteria of having a positive cash flow forecast for 3 years.
