The Local Government Authority (LGA) stated their expenses are higher than the budget that was allocated to them this year due to expenses from their atoll branches being counted as administration expenses.
A press release from LGA reads, with the amendment to the Decentralization Act, atoll council administrations that were operating previously were abolished and set up as LGA branches. The press release further reads that with this change, the authority was given the responsibility of overseeing expenses for the atoll branch employees, such as salary, benefits, payables and administrative expenses.
As LGA's budget for 2026 was determined before they took charge of the atoll branches based on the authorities previous operating status, LGA said they requested the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises to increase their budget to accommodate atoll branch operations.
The additional expenses present from the ministry's calculations is the increase to the budget for atoll branch expenses, which was done with the approval of the ministry and within the system put into place, said LGA.
Expense details
- MVR 37.3 million: Total budget approved by the state for LGA for 2026.
- MVR 18.5 million: Expenses toward operating LGA, its services, employee salary and benefits from the beginning of October until now.
- MVR 61.2 million: Total amount spent from the additional funds approved by the Finance Ministry for atoll branches (former atoll councils) from 17th May 2026 to 6th October 2026.
With the amendment to the Decentralization Act, atoll councils were abolished and atoll branches were formed on 17th May 2026.
LGA assured the authority's financial and operational matters proceed in accordance with the state's Public Finance Act, its regulations, rules and circulars. LGA also stated before any information related to the authority is publicized, they appealed to check the validity of the information before sharing it.
