President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that central bank Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) is holding discussions with banks operating in the Maldives on helping businesses including SME's overcome potential losses from the spread of Covid-19.

In his address to the nation regarding the current situation of Covid-19, President Solih said that they were working to secure loan aid and foreign aid. He had said that neighbouring countries and financial institutions have already given a green signal to these.

"Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) is holding discussions with banks operating in the Maldives on helping businesses including SME's overcome potential losses from the spread of Covid-19. In addition to this we are working to secure loan assistance as well," President Solih said.

In his address, President Solih noted that the global economy is going to be heavily affected in the wake of the virus. He also noted that financial experts have identified the Maldivian economy as one that would be among the hardest hit economies in the world due to Covid-19.

He revealed that in the first 10 days of March alone, tourist arrivals have seen a 22.8 per cent decrease in comparison to the same period last year. He further added that 161,740 bed nights have been cancelled since January 26th.

President Solih further added that estimates now show that tourist arrivals for the year will decrease by 12 per cent to as low as 35 per cent in comparison to the previous year.

"We initially projected a 7 per cent increase in tourism for this year. We also estimated a GDP growth of 7.5 per cent. However due to the repercussions of Covid-19 on the Maldivian economy, new estimates put the GDP growth rate anywhere between 0.5 per cent and -5.6 percent," President Solih revealed.

Due to this, the projected state revenue will be short of about MVR 2.1 billion to MVR 6.9 billion.