Maldives gets 50 mn euro loan for tsunami recovery

The tiny archipelago, which suffered damage following the Dec 2004 tsunami, needs money to fund gaps in carrying out rebuilding work.

Maldives on Thursday said it was awarded a 50-million-euro (59.6-million-dollar) loan from the European Union for tsunami reconstruction efforts.

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The tiny archipelago, which suffered extensive damage following the December 2004 tsunami, needs money to fund gaps in carrying out rebuilding work, the Maldivian government said in a statement.

It said the loan from the European Investment bank, the long term funding arm of the 25-member European Union, would help revive tourism, a mainstay of the economy.

"The loan, designed to help the Maldives post-tsunami recovery effort, will focus in particular on supporting the country's badly-damaged tourism industry," the government said.

Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has estimated that the country needed at least 1.5 billion dollars in recovery and rebuilding funds after the sea surge in December 2004 that battered the low-lying nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands.