The World Bank grants the USD 12 million to the government of Maldives to strengthen the financial sector. The agreement was signed by Minister of Finance and Treasury Ahmed Munawar and World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and Maldives Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough.
The grant will further boost the initiative of the ministry in enhancing the public finance sector of the country, Finance Minister Ahmed Munawar stated speaking at the signing ceremony. Noting this is a new step forward in the relationship of the Maldives and World Bank, Minister Munawar said 50% of the USD 12 million were granted as aid. Furthermore, Finance Minister revealed over 50% of the financial package provided by the World Bank will be used to strengthen the government or public financial management as well as organising training sessions.
Meanwhile, Country Director Pswarayi-Riddihough noted the main objective of World Bank is assisting the public sector financing of Maldives, adding the aid will go towards strengthening the reporting of state owned enterprises, developing human resources and transparency in financial reporting.
The finance ministry noted the government will enhance the public finance sector, with importance given to debt management, fiscal reporting mechanism and amending SOEs. The finance ministry expects to achieve high in terms of public finance before the end of the year.