Committee passes MVR 64.2 billion budget for next year

The Parliament's Budget Review Committee today approved the proposed national budget of MVR 64.2 billion for the upcoming year, submitted by the Ministry of Finance, without making any major changes, and has forwarded it to the Parliament floor.

In today's Budget Review Committee meeting, the proposal by Thinadoo North MP Saudullah Hilmy to approve the budget as submitted by the government was passed with the votes of 10 members. Four members voted against it.

The Committee Chair and Eydhafushi MP, Ahmed Saleem, stated that although some institutions had requested budget increments during the committee stage, the Finance Ministry informed the committee that no such changes could be made.

"The Ministry stated that due to significant expenditures expected next year, it is not possible to further increase the budget. However, the MVR 3.5 million required by the Parliament Secretariat will be adjusted and allocated from within the budget," he said.

Saleem added that any future budget shortfalls faced by other institutions during the year will be addressed by the Finance Ministry through a special contingency budget.

During today's committee meeting, Hithadhoo South MP Ibrahim Nazil (MDP) highlighted that the subsidy for fishermen has been reduced from MVR 341 million this year to MVR 280 million for the next year. He proposed increasing the budget by:

·         MVR 120 million specifically for those engaged in pole-and-line skipjack tuna fishing.

·         MVR 165 million for those engaged in yellowfin tuna fishing. He also proposed allocating MVR 50 million from the budget for farmers.

Hanimaadhoo MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa (MDP) proposed including the advice given by MMA Governor Ahmed Munawwar as a budget recommendation.

However, neither of these proposals submitted by the two MDP members was passed by the committee.

·         Total Budget: MVR 64.2 billion

·         Total Expenditure: MVR 49.2 billion

·         Total Revenue: MVR 40.4 billion

·         Recurrent Expenditure: MVR 39.9 billion

·         Deficit: MVR 8.8 billion

·         Projected GDP Growth: 5.3 percent