Maldives

(i) As of May 2020, MVR48.2 million has been disbursed as the Government subsidized 40% of electricity utility bills of April and May 2020; (ii) As of May 2020, MVR10.2 million has been disbursed as the Government subsidized 30% of water utility bills of April and May 2020; (iii) No amount/estimate: 4 August 2020, the Ministry of Tourism reduced the fine imposed on late rent fees for tourist establishments from 0.5% to 0.0493%; (iv) No amount/estimate: Under the Financial Aid for Students Abroad under the Economic Recovery Plan, students would be paid for a maximum period of 2 months, in relation to the stipend rates set by the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE). Eligible students will get a daily allowance corresponding to living allowance for their country of study, but will be capped at USD50 per day; (v) 7 October 2020, The government would extend the Income Support Allowance until the end of 2020 (Income Support is part of the Economic Recovery Plan. The total amount of the Plan is in Measure 05C). As of 10 June 2021, MVR21 million under the Income Support Allowance had been disbursed.

As of 17 November 2020, Ministry of Education extended aid of MVR1.5 million from the Zakat Fund to private-sector preschools and Qur’an classes in order to assist with the financial difficulties they are facing due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry disbursed MVR1 million to 25 preschools while MVR500,000 was handed over to 23 Qur’an classes.

(i) 25 March 2020, USD0.5 million under the COVID-19 Emergency Response; (ii) 30 April 2020, USD0.65 million is the estimated support under TA 9950-REG: Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of COVID-19 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases. As of 8 October 2021, the amount increased to USD1.16 million; (iii) 20 May 2020, USD0.17 million under the Support to address Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Strengthen Health Systems Preparedness for Communicable Diseases in South Asia project. As of 18 July 2020, This amounted to USD0.06 million; (iv) 25 June 2020, USD50 million under the COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program; (vi) 25 June 2020, USD0.50 million under the Improved Implementation of the Government's COVID-19 Response Package; (vii) 16 July 2020, USD1 million under the COVID-19 Emergency Response from the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund-Government of Japan; (viii) 4 September 2020, USD0.13 million Enhancing Gender Quality Results of South Asia COVID-19 Response.

(i) 2 April 2020, The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a USD7.3 million Maldives COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project to help the country prevent, detect, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen its public health preparedness. In addition, a USD10 million contingency financing, under Disaster Risk Management Development Policy Financing with a Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (CAT DDO), signed in 2019, has also been made available to support Maldives; (ii) 15 April 2020, The OPEC Fund approved USD20 million under the Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP) Emergency Loan; (iii) 22 April 2020, The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund approved the disbursement of SDR21.2 million (about USD28.9 million) to be drawn under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) to help cover balance of payments and fiscal needs, stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic; (iv) 2 May 2020, The Government of Japan provided an emergency grant of USD356,400 for UNICEF Maldives and USD185,000 for Maldives Red Crescent to assist the Government in its efforts to respond to COVID-19; (v) 20 May 2020, The United States through the US Agency for International Development will provide USD2 million under Economic Support Fund (ESF) as technical assistance to the government to develop effective economic, fiscal, monetary measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; (vi) 21 May 2020, The Government of Japan committed a grant of USD1.4 million to the UNDP Maldives that will support small and medium enterprises (SME’s) affected by COVID-19; (vii) The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) provided USD20 million under the Emergency Response to COVID-19 Pandemic in Maldives that will strengthen the health system preparedness and response to COVID-19 pandemic by scaling-up one regional health facility capacity for case tracing and infection control and by improving the emergency health care quality, and will support in ensuring that at least 80% of confirmed COVID-19 cases admitted in project targeted ICU are treated as per the approved protocol, and will serve the targeted communities; (viii) 7 June 2020, The Government of Japan provides a grant aid of JPY600 million (worth USD5.6 million) to the Maldives. This grant aid will be utilized to procure medical equipment required to strengthen the capacities of health facilities in atolls/islands; (ix) 9 June 2020, The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a USD12.8 million COVID-19 Emergency Income Support Project to help Maldives mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on poor and vulnerable workers and their families; (x) 15 June 2020, The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a EUR20 million (approximately USD22.7 million) loan with the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Maldives as a part of Team Europe action to help sustain the local economy, protect jobs and support SMEs operating in the tourism and industry sectors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic; (xi) 30 June 2020, Another USD7.3 million under the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project (World Bank as the lead co-financier) is approved to be co-financed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); (xii) 23 September 2020, The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, has approved a USD5 million Murabaha Financing Facility in favor of Bank of Maldives to support the Bank’s private sector businesses, particularly SMEs importing raw materials from the international markets; (xiii) 28 September 2020, The Government of Japan extended the COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan worth USD47.5 million (JPY5 billion) to Maldives; (xiv) No amount/estimate: 17 November 2020, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) donated 46 laptops and 5,000 PCR test kits to support the Maldivian government's ongoing nation-wide effort to contain COVID-19; (xv) 11 December 2020, The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a USD107.4 million Accelerating Renewable Energy Integration and Sustainable Energy (ARISE) project to help Maldives accelerate its transition to renewable energy and support sustainable recovery [Note The ARISE project is aligned with the World Bank Group’s strategy to tackle the post-COVID-19 challenges]; (xvi) 25 January 2021, The World Bank approved additional financing of USD21.6 million to further help Maldives mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on poor and vulnerable workers and their families. The additional financing will be utilized to expand the existing COVID-19 Emergency Income Support Project, which was approved by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors in 9 June 2020 with funding of USD12.8 million; (xvii) 11 March 2021, Japan provided MVR15.9 million to UNICEF Maldives to assist the Maldivian government manage its COVID-19 vaccine program; (xviii) No amount/estimate: 23 August 2021, Japan donates 112,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to Maldives via the COVAX facility; (xix) 27 October 2021, The United States, through the USAID, announced an additional USD2 million in urgent COVID-19 assistance for Maldives [update].