The Minister of Economic Development, Hon. Fayyaz Ismail, stated that the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) bank has approved to loan out MVR 30 million for 25 applicants.
He made this statement at a press conference held in the afternoon on June 30.
While 70% of the country’s economy is based on SMEs, the loan applications to the SME Bank exceed MVR 400 million.
However, the loans cannot be released as the bank is not yet large enough to finance the amount as of now.
Minister Fayyaz further stated that USD 60 million is expected to be received by the bank from different sources as funding.
The bank is giving a very high importance to the island businesses while stressing on businesses receiving money as soon as possible.
Creating the SME Bank was among President Solih’s first 100-day vows.
