Government has revealed that there is over MVR 2 billion spent from the State budget which is not accounted for in the Finance Ministry's system. They said that those who were negligent in this will be identified and taken action against.
Government has revealed that there is over MVR 2 billion spent from the State budget which is not accounted for in the Finance Ministry's system. They said that those who were negligent in this will be identified and taken action against.
Ministry of Finance has not been publishing the Weekly Fiscal Report since June, for which the government has faced public criticism as well.
In a press conference held at the President's Office today, Minister of Finance Moosa Zameer said that it had come to attention that by mid-year, there were discrepancies in expenses, at which point former Finance Minister Shafeeq had stopped releasing the report and investigated the matter.
As such, the Minister said that it was observed that an amount of MVR 1.5 billion and nearly MVR 2 billion which was granted by international financial institutions in 2023 for projects run with foreign aid had been entered into this year's records.
This had resulted in bills of total MVR 2.5 billion requested for posting in the previous two years had to be given space within this year's budget. The Minister added that such bills may also be at various other ministries, with efforts now ongoing to investigate this with the assistance of the Auditor General's Office.
In addition to this, about MVR 3 billion which was posted in 2023 budget but was not disbursed through that year's cashflow has been given through this year's cashflow, the Minister said.
Minister Zameer said that a request in writing has been submitted to the Auditor General to determine how to move forward with this matter. He said that actions taken will depend on this advice, as well as advice from the Attorney General.
Speaking at the press conference, Attorney General Ahmed Usham stated that if there is MVR 2 billion spent last year, but not recorded, then including it within this year's records would be against the law. He said that he is researching a legal solution for this issue.
Usham emphasized that expenditure should match the budget passed for the specific year, and that the Constitution clearly states expenses should not be made against the Budget allocations. Any such actions would be deemed in contravention of the law.
Usham said that it is against the law to seek supplementary budgets after spending over the budget allocated by the parliament. He said that this had been done since 2020 under the previous administration, adding that he had raised the concern in parliament as well at the time.
With this in being practice, by this year, there are many expenses of the State that have not been properly recorded. Usham said that the government will look into this and take necessary action. He reiterated that these actions are against the Public Finance Act, as well as the Constitution.
"We will look into their actions and take action against them. Many wrongs have been committed in overseeing State expenses. We will not take this lightly," Usham said.
Usham further said that amendments will be brought to the law as well to ensure that such actions are not repeated.
Zameer said that upon receiving the Auditor General's advice, the Finance Ministry's weekly report will be resume publication again,
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