The conditions for applying for the Murabaha facility, which is being carried out to establish refrigerated seawater (RSW) systems on existing and newly built fishing vessels, have been eased.
The Fisheries Ministry stated that while the credit history requirement for the Murabaha facility was previously assessed over a 1-year period, this has now been reduced to 3 months. The Ministry noted that with this change, if there are any unpaid loans or other issues within this period, the applicant will not be eligible for the loan. However, with this change in conditions, if loan payments are made regularly within the specified period, the applicant will be eligible for the Murabaha facility.
The Murabaha RSW financing facility is a finance facility arranged jointly by the Fisheries Ministry and the SME Development Finance Corporation (SDFC) under the Islamic Development Bank's (IsDB) "Support People's Livelihood in Fisheries Sector in Maldives through Sustainable Energy Project" to install RSW systems on vessels. Under this facility, financing is provided for establishing RSW systems on fishing vessels, purchasing generator sets, and purchasing solar power panel systems. Under this facility, up to MVR 2,000,000 is issued, with a profit rate calculated at 6% per annum. The government covers 35 percent of the cost of items acquired under this facility. Financing is provided under this facility to be repaid within a maximum of 10 years, with a 6-month grace period.
While it has been decided to install RSW systems on 110 vessels under this facility, fishing vessels of 50 feet or larger can apply for this facility. Since the introduction of the second phase of the RSW financing facility, 59 applications have been submitted, and out of the 21 applications approved for financing, financing for 14 applications was disbursed by the end of last month.
