The government has decided to subsidize a portion of water and electricity bills for the people, in the face of the Covid-19 outbreak in Maldives.

Speaking to press on Thursday, Minister of Finance, Ibrahim Ameer revealed that the government has reached the decision to cover 30% from water and 40% of electricity bills to ease the people of their difficulties during these challenging times.

As such, the government will subsidize water and electricity bills for April and May.

This comes at a time the Maldives Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) has decided to donate one-ton free water, equivalent to 1,000 liters to households. This is effective for a period of 30 days.

The government has also prepared an economic recovery package of MVR 2.5 billion in order to assist businesses recover their losses during this critical time.

The government’s Covid-19 task-force, National Emergency Operations Center has been working with the Health Protection Agency (HPA) to implement several precautionary measures against the spread of the fatal virus in the country. While the number of confirmed cases in the Maldives has reached 13, there have been no new cases reported since 15 March.