President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has announced that the Bank of Maldives (BML) will begin issuing housing loans of up to MVR 3 million without collateral.

Speaking in Guraidhoo during his visit to Thaa Atoll, the President said the decision was made to expand access to affordable housing. He noted that BML had introduced housing loans of up to MVR 1 million in May last year, which was later increased to MVR 2 million for cities in February this year.

The President confirmed that the bank’s board has now approved loans of up to MVR 3 million for housing projects across all islands in the Maldives, with applications to be opened soon. The loans can be repaid over a maximum period of 20 years, depending on the equity percentage.

In addition to this scheme, the government has decided to issue loans at an interest rate of 5 percent for housing projects. This year’s budget has allocated MVR 2.5 billion for housing loan schemes and MVR 1.5 billion for housing projects.