The Maldives government has exceeded its initial budget allocation for compensation by twice the amount in 2023.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Finance, the Maldives government has exceeded its compensation budget for this year by spending MVR 230 million, which is 127 percent more than the allocated budget of MVR 101 million.
The compensation budget for the current fiscal year has been fully depleted, and the cumulative total of state expenditure has reached MVR 21 billion, which signifies that 50 percent of the state budget has already been utilized.
As of May end, the government had spent MVR 102 million on compensating various parties. The most recent statistics from the ministry, reviewed up to June 8, revealed that an additional MVR 127 million was spent on compensation during the first 8 days of this month.
Over the past four years, the Maldives government has allocated MVR 1.6 billion for compensation payments. These compensations are disbursed to contractors or organizations with whom the government had previously entered into contracts that were subsequently terminated due to breaches or other reasons.
The government had paid compensation exceeding the budgeted total in the last four years as well.
During the first two months of 2023, the state has already paid approximately MVR 90 million in compensation to one party, surpassing the allocated budget for compensation.
The Ministry of Finance rejected an attempt by local online news outlet "Mihaaru News" to obtain information about the company through a Right-to-Information (RTI) request. The Ministry cited the confidentiality clause in the contract between the government and the company as the reason for the rejection. However, it was disclosed that the compensation given to the company was based on a decision made by the Arbitration Center.
The Information Commission on May 30, issued a demand to the Ministry of Finance on to disclose the identity of the company involved in the compensation case
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