Maldives has signed a loan agreement with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) for an additional USD 17 million for the development of the Velana International Airport (VIA).

The agreement was signed by the Chief Executive of SFD Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Murshid and Finance Minister Moosa Zameer.

At the signing ceremony, Zameer said the SFD has provided a lot of assistance to the health, housing and disaster sectors in the Maldives.

Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Murshid said the agreement will solve the airport's space constraints and enable seven million tourists to visit the Maldives annually.

"The loan will help complete the final phase of the airport project. The project will create job opportunities for the people and bring economic growth," he said.

Since 1978, the SFD has provided USD 242 million in seven different loans to expand VIA services.

The fund has provided more than 17 loans for 40 projects in Maldives. The total amount of loans provided by the fund is more than USD 288 million.

SFD has provided the largest amount of money for the VIA development project. The fund has previously issued two loans of USD 101 million, bringing the total loans to USD 219 million (MVR 3.3 billion) to develop the main airport.