The state revenue amounted to total MVR 12.5 billion while expenses reached total MVR 13.9 billion by the end of this year’s third quarter, stated the Maldives central bank.
According to Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA)’s quarterly economic bulletin released Thursday, the state revenue by the end of August was an increase of five percent from the previous year with an increase of MVR 642.1 million.
Statistics indicate that the revenue reached 53 percent of the projected amount while 58 percent of the estimated expenses were spent.
MMA’s economic bulletin shows that 74 percent of the state revenue by the end of the third quarter was earned via taxes. The amount is also an increase of three percent from 2015.
MMA attributes the spike in tax revenue to increase in earnings from Green Tax and Goods and Services Tax (GST). However, the tax from Tourism GST (TGST) had dropped by MVR 371 million due to the decrease in tourist arrivals during the third quarter. TGST is one of the major contributors of tax revenue in the Maldives.
According to the statistics, the state’s expenses by the end of the third quarter had increased by MVR 23.6 billion compared to the same period last year.
MMA attributes to the higher government expenses to the increased investments in the Public Sector Investment Programme. The majority of the expenses were invested in the redevelopment programme of capital Male.
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