The World Bank’s Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos has conveyed the Bank’s readiness to support the Maldives in building back better for inclusive and sustainable economic growth and achieving its development goals.
His assurance came during meetings with several local Ministers during the Country Director's two day-trip to the Maldives.
The Bank said that Hadad-Zervos completed a successful visit to the Maldives today as part of the World Bank’s continued engagement with the island nation to support its efforts to build back better from the unprecedented health and economic impact of COVID-19.
During the two-day visit, the Country Director met with key portfolio ministers, including Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer, Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail, Housing Minister Mohamed Aslam, and Minister of Environment Dr. Hussain Rasheed Hassan.
Meetings were also held with the Governor of Central Bank Ali Hashim, as well as top officials from the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology.
Discussions during the meetings focused on the macro-fiscal environment and the impact of COVID-19 on the country’s economy.
The Country Director also conveyed the World Bank’s readiness to support the Maldives in building back better for inclusive and sustainable economic growth and achieving its development goals.
The World Bank responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Maldives in April 2020 with a $7.3 million COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project to help the country prevent, detect and strengthen its public health preparedness.
It also noted that additionally, $10 million in contingency financing, under Disaster Risk Management Development Policy Financing with a Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option, and Pandemic Emergency Facility of $952,000 have also been made available to support the Maldives.
The Bank said that to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on workers and their families, and to increase the capacity of social protection programs to respond to future emergencies, the COVID-19 Emergency Income Support Project of $12.8 million was approved in June 2020 and later extended in January 2021 with additional financing of $21.6 million.
The World Bank portfolio in the Maldives currently consists of 10 active operations with a total net commitment of $182 million.
