The Maldives is set to receive US$12m in World Bank funding in a bid to bolster its national pension scheme, according to regional news reports.

Haveeru, citing a report in the Colombo-based Daily Financial Times paper, said that the funding was unveiled last week by Diarietou Gaye, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

According to Gaye, the provision of the funding was approved on Thursday (June 2, 2011) as a means to supply additional finance to ensure national social protection measures were available to poorer sections of Maldivian society.

The report stated that funding was expected to be distributed over a four year period from August this year by the World Bank’s own lending body – the International Development Association (IDA).

The World Bank funding is reported to be part of a restructuring programme of the Maldives Pension and Social Protection Administration (PSPA), which has already been the subject of parliamentary amendments earlier this year relating to expatriate payments.