ADB Backs Five-Year Maldives Plan for Debt Reform and Energy Security

The Asian Development Bank has endorsed a five-year strategy for the Maldives that places public-finance reform and energy security at the centre of its work from 2027 to 2031.

The strategy announced on 23 September covers debt management, revenue administration and the performance of state-owned companies. Energy investments include solar power, batteries, waste-to-energy and improvements to electricity grids.

ADB said its support would combine public and private financing, technical assistance and policy expertise. The announcement does not attach a total financing allocation to the new strategy.

Regional official Thiam Hee Ng identified high public debt, restricted government finances, imported-fuel dependence and extreme weather as vulnerabilities facing the country. The bank also cited the economy’s exposure to shocks affecting tourism receipts.

ADB intends to reduce financial risks associated with energy and waste utilities while expanding private participation and digital technology. It plans to coordinate its work with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group and other development partners.

The bank says more diverse energy supplies would reduce fuel-subsidy costs. It links stronger public finances with the capacity to invest in protection against climate hazards.

Existing projects and financing

ADB’s July 2026 country fact sheet records cumulative public-sector commitments of about US$556 million at the end of 2025. These covered 121 loans, grants and technical-assistance operations.

The public-sector portfolio still open at that date comprised five loans and ten grants worth US$253.3 million. Those figures describe existing commitments, rather than a new allocation under the 2027–2031 strategy.

The fact sheet identifies ongoing work on coastal and flood protection, local food production, electricity networks and waste management. It also describes support for an electronic single window intended to simplify export procedures.

Private-sector loans committed between 2021 and 2025 totalled US$33 million across two transactions, according to the same document. ADB recorded no new private-sector loan transaction in 2025.

The Maldives joined ADB in 1978 and is eligible for grants and concessional financing through the Asian Development Fund. The July fact sheet put total public and private commitments at approximately US$606 million by the end of 2025.

Renewable-energy programme

The bank’s existing Accelerating Sustainable System Development Using Renewable Energy project, known as ASSURE, is listed as active. ADB and the government signed loan and grant agreements of up to US$50.5 million for the programme in December 2023.

Its project documentation describes the difficulty of supplying electricity across widely dispersed islands, where separate systems rely heavily on imported diesel. It identifies solar, battery storage and grid investment as components of the transition.

The programme follows the Preparing Outer Islands for Sustainable Energy Development project, or POISED, approved in 2014.

In its account of that earlier programme, ADB records more than 10.5 megawatts of installed solar capacity, 5.6 megawatt-hours of battery storage and 11.6 megawatts of energy-efficient diesel generation, with associated investment across 70 islands in eight atolls.

The project documentation also records training and capacity-building support for the environment ministry, FENAKA and STELCO, alongside work on renewable-energy regulation and net metering.