The government’s aim is to return Maldives economy to the position it was in before the country got plunged into the Covid-19 pandemic, says Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer.

Speaking regarding the newly introduced Covid-19 stimulus scheme, the minister noted that the government highly prioritizes expenditure to return the country’s heavily impacted economy back to pre-Covid status.

As such, Ameer noted that the government is focusing a lot of expenses to resolve the many challenges both economically and socially, due to the coronavirus pandemic, despite the many challenges to the country’s revenues.

The minister highlighted that the country’s economy plunged by 34 percent due to Covid-19 during 2020, which led to the country’s projected income falling by MVR 15 billion. Maldives economy has been severely impacted during 2021 as well.

Despite these challenges, Minister Ameer noted that the government is introducing several economic relief and other stimulus packages to aid the public to overcome challenges.

As such, since 2020 up until now, the government has issued MVR 1.7 billion through the Bank of Maldives (BML) as well as SME Development and Finance Corporation (SDFC) in relief loans to the people.

Another MVR 1.7 billion had been spent by the government on expenses to increase the country’s healthcare capacity in the face of the pandemic as well. These expenses amount to six percent of the national productivity rate currently. Ameer noted that these efforts come under the national resilience and recovery plan, and that the government aims to return the country’s economy to pre-Covid status observed in 2019, as soon as possible.

The minister noted that the government is ready to continue what ever expenses are required to make this happen.

Regarding the economic stimulus package, Ameer noted that the financing under the scheme will carry an interest rate like never seen in the country’s history. These loans will provide much needed eases for businesses affected by the pandemic.

All of the government’s stimulus packages aims to overcome the Covid-19 challenges as soon as possible, the minister added.

He went on to note that with the government’s current policies, it is believed that the country’s economy will rise by 19 percent.