Bank of Maldives has closed the window for applications under the Covid-19 Relief Loan initiated by the European Investment Bank (EIB).

After initially opening the application window during December last year, BML halted the application process temporarily once the allocated fund limit was reached on 29 December 2020.

After the review process was completed and the applications submitted were evaluated, BML resumed accepting applications once more on 11 March 2021.

The application window was closed again on Wednesday.

Businesses that submitted applications by the deadline could finance projects up to MVR 15.42 million at a lower interest rate of 6% with a repayment period of 4-7 years.

The country’s national bank launched the Covid-19 Relief Loan under the Covid-19 relief support for Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through funding from EIB, facilitated by the Maldivian government.

BML announced the additional relief financing for SMEs due to the ongoing pandemic, during November 2020 with an aim to help sustain SMEs in the tourism and industry sectors in the country, and to speed up post-Covid economic recovery.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a loan worth EUR 20 million with the Maldivian government on 16 June 2020.

The loan was granted as part of the Team Europe Action to assist in the post-Covid-19 recovery efforts of the country's economy, protect jobs and support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operating in the travel and tourism industry sectors.

It was also expected to improve access to finance and reinforce the local banking sector and enable the island nation to recover faster from the economic impacts of the global pandemic.

EIB revealed that this is the first Covid-19 related operation of the bank in Asia and a part of the 5.2-billion-euro support package for countries outside of the EU, on April 8.

However, this is the third operation for the EIB in Maldives since establishment, during 2005.