HDC staff receive MVR 18,600 as annual bonus

The Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has decided on a payout of MVR 18,600 as the annual bonus for its employees.

HDC is one of the biggest employers among state-owned enterprises. It is also considered among the best employers in terms of the renumeration package it offers.

The corporation paid MVR 10,000 as an annual bonus to its employees last year.

Sun has been informed that the HDC has nearly doubled the bonus this year, deciding on paying each employee an annual bonus of MVR 18,600.

The HDC was established in 2001, during former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s administration, to develop the artificial island of Hulhumale’ and run social housing initiatives to address the Maldivian capital growing housing crisis.

But in 2019, then-President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih established Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation (FDC), a separate SOE dedicated to social housing initiatives not just in Male’, but across the Maldives.

The move had sparked criticism, with many questioning the need to create two separate SOEs with a similar mandate.

But with the establishment of FDC, HDC had moved away from social housing to focus on urban development.

The HDC has racked up huge debt over the years to fund its projects. The situation worsened following the Solih administration’s decision to give away HDC’s biggest asset, land in Hulhumale’, under the ‘Binveriya’ social housing scheme.

In 2024, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration announced a SOE reform agenda aimed at cutting costs through the dissolution of companies operating at a loss as well as the merger or acquisition of companies operating at a loss with and by more profitable ones.

This has included a plan to make the FDC a subsidiary of HDC.

However, the merger was later put on hold amid concerns the move would only add more liabilities to the books of HDC, which is already carrying a high debt.