Next year’s budget smaller than this year’s: President Muizzu

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has said the government’s proposed budget for next year is smaller than this year’s once debt repayment of MVR 9.3 billion are excluded.

Finance Minister Moosa Zameer presented the MVR 64.2 billion state budget for 2026 to Parliament today. However, President Muizzu, in a post on social media platform X, said that MVR 9.3 billion allocated for sukuk and bond repayments are not part of the budget’s total expenditure.

“The budget proposed today is smaller than the current 2025 budget. Excluding the MVR 9.3 billion sukuk and bond repayment costs included in the budget, the 2026 budget is MVR 55 billion,” President Muizzu wrote.

The government is set to repay USD 500 million (MVR 7.7 billion) in sukuk issued in 2021 and USD 100 million (MVR 1.5 billion) in bonds issued in 2022. The repayments, Finance Minister Zameer said, represent debts inherited from previous administrations.

“The increase in the budget is mainly due to higher debt repayment costs related to the sukuk issued in 2021 and the repayment of a USD 100 million bond issued earlier,” he told Parliament.

The proposed budget allocates MVR 39.9 billion for recurrent expenditure, representing 62 percent of total expenditure and an increase of MVR 3.3 billion compared with this year. Capital expenditure is set at MVR 9.3 billion.

This year, the government has already spent MVR 8.3 billion on debt repayment. The budget deficit for next year is projected at MVR 9.4 billion; the lowest in recent years.

Minister Zameer said the health sector will receive the highest priority in next year’s budget.