Expenditure reduction leads to MVR 3.4 billion surplus from annual budget

Reduction in government expenditure has led to a State budget surplus of MVR 3.4 billion.

Weekly financial statistics shared by the Ministry of Finance indicate that as of last Thursday, MVR 11.2 billion was received as State revenue. This is approximately MVR 500 million more than the same period last year.

As of now, MVR 8.7 billion has been received this year in taxes, with MVR 2.5 billion received as other revenue.

With the economic reform actions being taken by the government, expenditure has also seen a significant decrease.

Recurrent expenditure, which was at MVR 8.9 billion within this period last year, is down to MVR 8.4 billion this year.

Although total recurrent expenditure shows a decrease, spending on State salaries and pension has increased. In this period last year, the figure was at MVR 3.3 billion, while it has risen to MVR 3.6 billion this year.

The decrease in total recurrent expenditures is owed to lower operational costs, which is at MVR 4.8 billion this year - an MVR 600 million lower figure than last year.

Capital expenditure also shows a steep decrease. Last year, capital expenditure within this period was at nearly MVR 3 billion, which has been slashed to MVR 693 million this year.

As expenditure has been decreased compared to State revenue, as of April 10, there is an MVR 3.4 billion budget surplus.

The amount deposited to the Sovereign Development Fund this year also shows an increase. As of April 10, MVR 437.1 million has been deposited to this fund, while last year's figure was at MVR 342 million.