Spending on subsidies decrease, but Aasandha costs rise

Weekly finance statistics shared by the Ministry of Finance show that although spending on subsidies has decreased under the implementation of the government's Economic Reform Agenda, spending on Aasandha continues to rise.

As per the statistics, as of last Thursday, spending on the various subsidies was at MVR 844.9 million this year. This is an MVR 10.2 million decrease from the figures in the same period last year, which was at MVR 855.1 million.

Although spending on subsidies show a decrease, spending on Aasandha is higher this year.

As of April 10, MVR 665.9 million has been spent on providing Aasandha services. This is an increase of MVR 179.2 million compared to the same period last year.

Despite the rise in Aasandha spending, operational costs of the government were significantly brought down this year.

This year, the figure is at MVR 4.8 billion, which is MVR 600 million lower than this period last year.

Along with this, recurrent expenditure, which was at MVR 8.9 billion in this period last year, has been reduced to MVR 8.4 billion.

The statistics also indicate that as of last Thursday, government revenue was at MVR 11.2 billion, about MVR 500 million higher than last year's figures.

Capital expenditure also so a decrease. While capital expenditure was at MVR 3 billion last year, the figure has been reduced to MVR 693 million this year.

As expenditure is lower than revenue, there is a budget surplus of MVR 3.4 billion as of April 10.

While the primary balance is at MVR 3.4 billion, overall balance is also at MVR 2.1 billion. Overall balance includes debt repayment. MVR 1.2 billion has been spent on debt repayment.

As of now, government expenditure this year is at MVR 9.1 billion. An additional MVR 3.1 billion is recorded as budget consumption. This includes MVR 2.4 billion for loan repayment, MVR 400 million as invesment and MVR 300 million issued to SOEs as loans.