Government spends MVR 1.9 billion on council block grant

The government of Maldives has spent MVR 1.9 billion on council block grants, weekly Finance Ministry data has revealed.

According to the figures, MVR 2.2 billion was allocated in this year's budget to issue block grands for local councils.

Since 2020, the Maldivian government has issued block grants to empower councils financially. The aid's value is determined based on the state's income.

These grants are often used by councils to run developmental projects in the councils' jurisdictions.

Recently local councils raised concerns over the lowered block grant amount allocated in the proposed budget for 2025. Because of this, the government has decided to add MVR 700 million to the original allocated amount. This brings up the figure of MVR 2.1 billion.

The largest portion of the block grant goes to city councils.

When submitting budgets, local council are required to include the government issued block grants, conditional grants from other institutions, trust fund values as well as any other financial benefits.

As such, these block grants are included in the councils' budgets.