Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises Hassan Zareer stated today that the decision has been made to conduct an audit on government agencies to see if the number of hired staff match with the agency's requirements.

While answering a question from an MP during the Budget Committee meeting to study the estimated budget for 2027 that was submitted to the Parliament by the government, Zareer said after the audit being done in collaboration between the ministry and the National Pay Commission concludes, employees from places that are overstaffed will be moved to places that require more staff.

According to the minister, this is just one of many steps being taken to lower state expenditure.

"The President has also decided to not create new positions next year. Along with that, staff will be hired for positions that absolutely require replacements. We, the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises and the National Pay Commission, will collaborate to conduct an audit to see whether government institutions are employing strictly the required number of staff," said Zareer.

The minister went on to say that another thing that will be done to lower expenditure is to introduce a "targeted subsidy", which will only be given to those who absolutely require it instead of the current practice of giving everyone a blanket subsidy. He also said that increasing renewable energy resources and lowering fuel expenses are planned as a large portion of the Maldives' State revenue is being spent on fuel. This will be an additional step that will be taken to lower expenditure, he said.

"We have a plan to change 33 percent of the energy being produced in Maldives to renewable energy by 2028," Zareer said.

He stated that there are two 150-megawatt projects that are underway as part of the plan.

"Once both projects are done, it is estimated that around 100 million liters of fuel will be saved," said Zareer.

The government submitted the budget for 2027 with an estimated MVR 59.7 billion to Parliament on 29th October. This is 46.1 percent of GDP.

Aside from the year of the Covid pandemic, the state budget has been increasing year after year over the last decade.

Even though the total budget for 2027 is lower than 2026, the budget deficit is MVR 1.9 billion higher than 2026. The overall deficit in the 2027 budget is estimated to be at MVR 9.4 billion. The estimated overall deficit for 2026 is MVR 7.5 billion.