Abu Dhabi Fund to loan USD 40 mn for airport development

Finance Ministry has said that Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) had agreed to loan USD 40 million (MVR 616.8 million) for development of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.

Finance Ministry released a statement on Thursday saying that the commitment was provided by ADFD during the discussions held by senior officials from ADFD and Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad last Monday, during his visit to Saudi Arabia.

Jihad met with Director-General of ADFD, Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi during his visit to Saudi Arabia.

Finance Ministry said that Suwaidi voiced his commitment to the USD 40 million loan during the meeting; and provided assurance that the loan would be approved during the next ADFD meeting.

However, Finance Ministry has not revealed the interest rate, nor the time period during which the loan had to be paid back.

In addition to ADFD, Jihad also met with senior officials from Islamic Development Bank (IDB), who, according to Finance Ministry, provided assurances that they would push to increase the previously agreed upon loan amount for airport development project from USD 77 million to

USD 110 million (MVR 1,696 million).

Jihad is also scheduled to meet with Saudi Minister for Finance Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, as well as senior officials from Saudi Fund for Development, which, according to Finance Ministry, has pledged USD 100 million for airport development project.