The government has submitted a supplementary budget of MVR 6.5 billion for parliament's approval.
With the supplementary budget's inclusion, the state budget for 2023 will increase to MVR 49.3 billion.
- Total recurrent expenditure: MVR 3.1 billion
- Capital expenditure: MVR 3.3 billion
From the proposed additional budget injection, MVR 1.8 billion is allocated for subsidies, with another MVR 1.2 billion allocated for Aasandha, the state-initiated health insurance scheme.
With this inclusion, the government will be spending MVR 2.3 billion on Aasandha in 2023.
The state has proposed a capital expenditure increment to adjust for Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP) spending. The supplementary budget includes an allocation of MVR 1.7 billion for PSIP.
With the inclusion of the additional MVR 6.5 billion, recurrent expenditure of the government will increase to MVR 31.7 billion in annual terms.
The government in 2022 proposed a supplementary budget of MVR 5.8 billion as well.
The state has been adding supplementary budgets to its original state budget for the government's cashflow management since 2019; which is reflective of the increasing state expenditure.
Article 96(c) of the Maldives Constitution states that "no supplementary expenditures shall be added to an approved budget without further approval by the parliament.
The Public Finance Act stipulates that the government must submit supplementary budget's proposal two months prior to the requirement of additional state budget.
While a supplementary budget proposal has been submitted to the parliament, the state is also required to submit the proposed state budget for 2024 before the end of this month.