The government has extended assistance to a number of individuals under the economic relief scheme, thus far.

This was revealed by the Minister of Finance, Ibrahim Ameer who joined a press briefing held at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) on Saturday afternoon, to provide updates on the Covid-19 situation in the country.

Publicizing the details, the minister noted that loans were disbursed through the country’s national bank, Bank of Maldives (BML) to 125 individuals with a MVR 10 million revenue. A total of MVR 145.7 million was issued as well as an additional USD 2.5 million.

Loan applications of 159 individuals were approved by the bank, while 14 were rejected and 140 applications are currently processing.

Minister Ameer further noted that MVR 127.1 million was approved by the SME Development Finance Corporation (SDFC) to a total of 640 individuals, both businesses and self-employed freelancers.

Out of this, SDFC issued loans to a total of 241 individuals, totaling MVR 22.3 million. This includes 193 businesses that were issued MVR MVR 21.3 million and 48 self-employed persons who received MVR 1.2 million.

According to the ministry’s statistics, SDFC received a total of 1,680 applications, out of which 1,046 were from businesses and 634 were from freelancers. Loans were approved for 466 businesses and 174 freelancers.

Minister Ameer added that they received 217 applications by women, seeking MVR 31.2 million, out of which approval was given for 84 applicant, who were granted loans of MVR 14.3 million. The approved amount includes 51 applications from businesses and 33 from freelancers.