Democrats point out omissions in supplementary budget, Ministry to resubmit

On Wednesday, parliament secretariat demanded from the Finance Ministry to resubmit the proposal after completing all legally required components in the report.

Parliament's Communications Director Hassan Ziyau said that the budget proposal lacked details which were mandatory inclusion according to relevant laws.

Ziyau further added that though the ministry submitted the missing documents to the parliament on Tuesday, there had been a few details missing.

"We requested from them [ministry] to complete the document and resubmit it," Ziyau said.

However, the Finance Ministry has responded stating that they have submitted the supplementary budget in the same way as past years, with no information or details missing.

They have, however, agreed to review it and resubmit it later today as per the Parliament's instructions.

The omission of details in the supplementary budget was brought to the Parliament's notice by minority party The Democrats.

The Democrats alleged the proposed supplementary budget by the government for 2023 was in breach of the law.

The MVR 6.5 billion supplementary budget proposed by the government includes MVR 3.1 billion in recurrent expenses and MVR 3.3 billion for capital expenses.

Parliament's minority leader and Central-Henveiru MP Ali Azim sent a letter to the parliament regarding the proposal, noting the government did not include the previous year's state revenue and expenditure in its supplementary budget proposal; which was a violation of the Public Finance Act.

The MP further said that the medium-term fiscal strategies earlier announced by the Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer would change following the supplementary budget's proposition, and urged to submit a new report inclusive of the change to the budget position.

Due to the exclusion of said information in the supplementary budget proposed by the ministry, the MP via his letter to the parliament said the proposition was in breach of the law.

"Accepting the supplementary budget proposed by the Finance Ministry will set a precedent for future misconduct," Azim wrote in his letter.

The MP said the budget must adhere to the required reporting guidelines, and should be resubmitted after rectification.

Parliament minority leader rejected the budget while it had been tabled for Tuesday's parliament sitting. The sitting itself had to been adjourned owing to lack of quorum.