Atolls Credit and Development Banking Project

Atolls Credit and Development Banking Project

In this project, IFAD supported government efforts to achieve a more balanced economic and social development in the outer atolls, to make levels comparable to those in Malé, the capital. At the time of the project, most of the people living in the outer atolls were poor and disadvantaged, and about half of them had incomes that were one third of the national average. There was a lack of credit and advisory services for small-scale island-based activities.

The objective of the project was to increase the incomes and living standards of poor islanders and to improve their health through better nutrition. Specific objectives were to establish a development banking network and initiate a process of nutrition demonstration and education, integrated with agricultural extension on a pilot basis for replication on a wider scale.

The principal aims of the project were to:

• strengthen the Bank of Maldives, orienting the institution towards development banking and assisting it in providing banking facilities, mobilizing savings and establishing a credit delivery mechanism in the outer atolls
• support credit to islanders for investment in fishing boats, fish processing, agricultural activities, service trades, cottage industries, retail trade and other viable income-generating activities

Source: IFAD