Ministry of Finance and Treasury has said that MVR 43 million has been released as Income Support Allowance.

The Finance Ministry said that as of 13 August 2020, MVR 43.6 million has been released to 10,522 people who lost employment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finance Ministry said that at the end of 3 August 2020, MVR 35.1 million has been released to 8,488 people. And so, MVR 8.5 million has been issued to 2,034 people in the past 11 days.

Income Support Allowance program began on 20 May 2020 as part of the MVR 2.5 billion relief package to assist the economy. The income support allowance is being provided for the months of April, May and June.

The regulations state that only those who either lost their jobs, had a significant pay cut, as well as those who were forced on no-pay leaves along with freelancers, will be eligible for the allowance. It also states that those who have been suspended and are on no-pay leave with receive an allowance of MVR 5,000. For those who had a pay cut, if their salary is below MVR 5000, the amount they receive now will be deducted from MVR 5,000 with the remainder being their allowance.

In addition to this, freelancers with zero income will receive the MVR 5,000 allowance. A research conducted by the Maldives National University said that five in ten Maldivians had their employment affected by COVID-19.