Malé, Maldives – The Finance Ministry of Maldives has decided to extend the grace period of the Covid-19 recovery loans awarded via SME Development Finance Corporation (SDFC), by six months.
With the grace period of the loan, which was given out to help businesses overcome the economical struggles faces due to Covid-19, being extended by six months, the total grace period of the loans are now 12 months, and applicable for the businesses whose grace periods have already expired as well.
Apart from this, the loan recipients whose grace periods are yet to expire, will receive an additional 6 months at the end of their current grace period, while new loan recipients will also get a total of 12 months to start repaying their loan.
However, it was added that the standards and practices followed when evaluating loan applications would be applied in the provision of the grace periods as well.
Finance Ministry further stated that those who are to be granted this extension would be notified within the next 30 days, after which the recipients must accept the extension and gather all relevant documentation.
This recovery loan scheme was implemented via the Covid-19 ‘Viyafaari Ehee’ loan product by SDFC. It is targeted towards SMEs with annual turnover of less than MVR 10 million in 2019, who are facing difficulties in meeting their current operational requirements due to the ongoing pandemic.
