Asian Development Bank (ADB), on Wednesday, declared that the bank will provide financial aid to Maldives for the next five years.
ADB announced its renewal of the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) 2020 - 2024 signed between Maldives and the bank.
Under the agreement, ADB will continue to provide assistance in various areas of development, such as private sector, healthcare and education.
ADB also vowed to continue providing aid for the economic recovery of Maldives. The bank had formerly speculated that Maldives' economic growth will fall to negative three percent in the financial recession caused by the pandemic.
During June, the bank extended financial aid of USD 50 million for Maldives’ COVID-19 response, of which USD 25 million was free aid and the remaining was a loan.
In addition, the institution also granted a further USD 1 million to the state to tackle the repercussions of the ongoing pandemic.
As with numerous countries around the world, in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Maldives closed its air and sea borders to tourist arrivals from March 27 to July 15.
The restrictions on international travel left Maldives' heavily tourism reliant economy in an extremely vulnerable state. In mid-April, the World Bank projected that Maldives would be the worst-hit economy in the South Asian region due to the pandemic.
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