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State expenditures on COVID-19 response reach MVR 892 million

Ahmed Aiham
02 June 2020, MVT 19:11
Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer. PHOTO: PRESIDENT'S OFFICE / NATIONAL EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTRE
Ahmed Aiham
02 June 2020, MVT 19:11

Ministry of Finance on Monday revealed that the state's total expenditure on COVID-19 response has reached MVR 892.3 million, as of May 28.

According to the ministry's 'Weekly COVID-19 Spending Report', government expenditure rose by 2.9 percent compared to the week before. Records from last week showed that government spending on COVID-19 response stood at MVR 866.9 million. In just a week’s time, government spending increased by MVR 21.15 million.

As per the expenditure breakdown, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of Health, the two main authorities mandated with the prevention and management of COVID-19, contributed to 91.5 percent of all spending. Figures show that NDMA spent a total of MVR 584.4 million, while the health ministry recorded a total expenditure of MVR 141.1 million.

Records show that Ministry of National Planning and Infrastructure (MNPI) utilized MVR 28.1 million, Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) spent MVR 7.6 million, Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) expended MVR 5.2 million, National Social Protection Agency (NSPA) recorded MVR 4.4 million in expenses, while Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported spending MVR 3.7 million.

Additional COVID-19 response related expenditures include MVR 1.8 million by Maldives Police Service, MVR 1.3 million by Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services and MVR 200,000 by Maldives Immigration.

Spending from Trust Funds include MVR 27.2 million from Tourism Activities Implementation Fund, MVR 84.1 million from the Disaster Management Fund, and MVR 3 million from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs’ Zakat Fund.

In terms of overall spending till date, a total of MVR 447.8 million was spent on "supplies and requisites for service provision” including spendings on medical consumables, test kits and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and MVR 177.2 million on “capital spending and equipment” including spendings on COVID-19 related equipment such as ventilators and hospital beds in medical facilities and isolation centres.

Furthermore, MVR 112.7 million was spent on “grants, contributions and subsidies” as direct assistance to those in need, and spending from the Disaster Management Fund to stock up staple food.

At present, Maldives now records total confirmed 1,829 and 1,334 active cases of COVID-19, with 488 recoveries and seven deaths.

WHO classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic on March 12. The new strain of novel coronavirus has now infected over 6.3 million people and claimed over 377,900 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, 2.9 million people have recovered.

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