The Development Bank of Maldives (DBM) will come into operation in July, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Mohamed Saeed has confirmed.
Saeed said that the development bank will help mitigate current drawbacks within the financial establishment towards funding more development projects. The capacity of the banks within the sector, while already providing funds to develop industries, is limited by their few numbers as even tourism financing often looks to funding from overseas, the minister said during a televised news interview.
With the registration completed, work on establishing the bank has started within the first 100 days of the administration, as promised by President Mohamed Muizzu, he said — the bank is set to get the necessary licence within the next week.
“We are working with the MMA [Maldives Monetary Authority] to get the development bank license. Hopefully we will get the development bank license this week or next. Once we get it, we are targeting to launch the development bank in July,” the minister explained.
DBM was established, in line with administration policies, by the President on 16 May with the purpose of investing in sustainable economic and social development, raising funds for infrastructure development, addressing challenges in financing PSIP projects, and attracting foreign currency deposits within the domestic banking system.