Government revenue so far this year has increased compared to the previous year, but expenditure has risen by a similar margin, according to the Finance Ministry's latest statistics.
As of December 5, government revenue stood at MVR 31.9 billion, an increase of approximately MVR 78 million compared to the same period last year.
The rise in revenue is primarily due to the increase in TGST (Tourism Goods and Services Tax) collections. Tax revenue reached MVR 24.3 billion, marking a rise of MVR 2 billion compared to last year.
However, non-tax revenue declined, falling to MVR 7 billion this year from MVR 7.79 billion last year. The decline was mainly driven by reduced income from tourism land lease payments and dividends from state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
While revenue increased, government expenditure also saw a rise. Total expenditure reached MVR 43.6 billion, an increase of MVR 670 million over the same period last year.
Recurrent expenditure accounted for the majority of spending, with MVR 30.6 billion spent so far this year, an increase of MVR 1.3 billion compared to last year. This rise was largely driven by higher spending on salaries and pensions, which increased from MVR 11 billion last year to MVR 12.4 billion this year.
Administrative expenses also increased by MVR 197 million.
Expenditure on Aasandha and subsidies, however, decreased. Spending on Aasandha fell by MVR 101 million to MVR 1.88 billion, while subsidy expenditure dropped from MVR 3.68 billion to MVR 3.44 billion, a reduction of MVR 233 million.
Capital expenditure declined this year, standing at MVR 12.97 billion compared to MVR 13.5 billion last year mostly due to reduced spending on development projects.
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