Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail on Friday stated those self-employed workers fit the eligibility criteria for Small Medium Enterprise (SME) loans issued by SME Development Finance Corporation (SDFC).
He revealed via Twitter that the Economic Ministry will soon be modifying its job centre, so that those who are self-employed can report their status.
The Minister went on to say that what SDFC can do is limited, however, they will try to include as many people as possible. As per him, SDFC will not capitalise any interest.
SDFC announced on March 19 of its decision to lower interest rates to four percent for loans issued to SMEs and delay repayment period by six months. As per the corporation, these measures are intended to combat the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on smaller businesses operating in Maldives.
Experts estimate that the global economy may continue to take even more hits as COVID-19 continues to spread at an alarming rate around the globe.
The World Health Organization has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has infected more than 549,000 and claimed over 24,000 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 128,000 have recovered.
Maldives now has 14 confirmed and five active cases of COVID-19, with a total of nine recoveries. The first case of a local being tested positive was announced by HPA on Friday. Apart from this single case, only tourists and resort employees have confirmed infections in Maldives.
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