BML CEO: BML played a key role in keeping economy afloat in the pandemic

CEO and Managing Director of Bank of Maldives, Tim Sawyer, has stated that the Bank played a pivotal role in keeping the Maldivian economy afloat amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at its Annual General Meeting held virtually today, Tim highlighted the important role the Bank played in supporting the country during the pandemic – citing that the Bank had “understood the potential economic impact of Covid early on and laid out a strategy to support the country and keep the economy afloat,"

The strategy mainly consisted of four things:

1. The continuity of Banking services without interruption
2. Supporting customers which were financially affected by the pandemic through short-term financing and moratorium in addition to assisting the government in delivering lending schemes, administering the EIB Covid-19 Recovery Loan scheme along with the recent Economic Stimulus Loan
3. Successfully securing external funding to ease liquidity pressures – almost USD 90 million in funding from multiple lending agencies
4. Ensuring adequate foreign currency reserves to support the country

Tim also added that the Bank is in a much better position today than the one they were in this time last year – noting with confidence that they will bounce from this downhill.

“We are in a much better position today than we were this time last year and will bounce back from the dip in performance. We will inevitably face challenges, but we have the strength to overcome these as we work for sustainable growth. We also have some exciting new products and services to announce in the coming months and most importantly, we have a great team at the heart of the Bank, to deliver on our strategy,” he had said.

Bank of Maldives made a profit after tax of MVR 325 million last year - a reduction of more than 60% compared to 2019 – even though having started the year strongly.

At the Annual General Meeting held last night, the Bank’s Board of Directors has passed a resolution to distribute MVR 15 per share – totaling up to MVR 80.7 million.

In 2019, MVR 26 per share was distributed.