The government of Maldives has received over USD 60 million in loans and grants through foreign assistance in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, as of Saturday.
This was revealed by the Minister of Finance, Ibrahim Ameer during a press briefing at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) on Saturday afternoon.
Shedding light on the details of the foreign assistance, provided in USD 61.9 million, minister Ameer stated that the International Monetary Fund contributed a majority of the amount, at USD 28.9 million.
Others that contributed include:
- World Bank: USD 17.3 million
- Asian Development Bank (ADB): USD 600,000
- Islamic Development Bank: USD 15.1 million
Under the work being conducted to fill the financial gap, the ministry is working to acquire funds through other financial institutes as well.
In an earlier press conference the minister noted that an indicative figure of USD 290 million funding has been guaranteed.
Out of the USD 17.3 million funded through the World Bank, USD 10 million is 50% loan and 50% grant aid. The remaining USD 7.3 million is also half grant, half loan.
ADB offered the USD 600,000 as technical assistance and aid while the Islamic Development Bank offered funds for an ITFC Facility, a credit facility to acquire medical consumables and staple foods for the State Trading Organization (STO).
Bilateral partners as well as countries that have extended aid in several forms to the Maldivian government include India, Japan, the United States of America, China, the European Union, Bangladesh and UNICEF.
Earlier this year, India facilitated in the evacuation of Maldivian students stranded in Wuhan, China, where the pandemic surfaced in December 2019. India also donated medicines and deployed a team of medical experts to assist in the Maldives Covid-19 response efforts.
The Bangladeshi government also deployed a team of medical experts to the Maldives to assist in the battle against the pandemic.
The Japanese government has also provided million in kind, by supplying medications and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Similarly, USA Bangladesh and China also supplies PPE and medications to the Maldives, with China having consigned diagnostic equipment, care beds as well as ventilators.
UNICEF provided technical assistance in preparing Standard Operating Procedures for emergency response for the education sector and EU provided grant assistance to the health and tourism sectors.
