BML opens 'Housing Grant' under series of initiatives leading up to 40th anniversary

Bank of Maldives has launched a ‘Housing Grant’.

The initiative comes as the fourth event of a series of 12 high-impact monthly community initiatives leading up to the country’s national bank’s 40th anniversary to be celebrated in November 2022.

The country’s national bank revealed that the initiative aims to support vulnerable families by building and furnishing houses for three families across the country.

BML opened the fund for NGOs and island councils to nominate families in need of safe housing anywhere across the island nation.

With this initiative, BML’s Managing Director and CEO Timothy Sawyer revealed that they aim to make a difference in the lives of people, their health and well-being by offering stability and strength to those in need.

The country’s national bank revealed that the recipient must be living in a house, land or lot they own or stand to fully inherit, have access to water and electricity, have available sanitation facilities and have a basic structure of the house and live-able space to be eligible for the grant.

An internal panel at BML will undertake the review and selection process which will go through an initial screening stage to see if the recipient matches the eligibility criteria. They will then evaluate the applications and shortlist households.

Three households will be selected after the teams from BML conduct visits to the households to make a qualitative assessment with the NGOs and councils.

This will be followed by the contracting of building and furnishing households to contractors. Finished houses will be handed over to the recipients through the NGOs and councils.

BML has urged to forward applications via email to housinggrant@bml.com.mv before the end of March 2022.

Further details can be assessed through BML'swebsite.

The country’s national bank launched its scholarship fund during November 2021 as a first of the series, where fully funded international scholarships for three students in the area of Banking and Finance will be provided every year. Open to all, the fund carries the purpose of developing talented young Maldivians in the field.

The second event is the refurbishment and upgrading of the Maldives National Library, announced in December 2021.

The third event, launched in January, is the ‘Startup Grant Fund’, that will pave the way for emerging entrepreneurs to win a grant funding to start or grow a business in the Maldives.