Ministry of Finance (MOF) has revealed that the state has spent MVR 141.3 million on travel expenses in 2020.
Statistics published by (MOF) shows that the government spent MVR 141.1 million from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2020. The government budgeted MVR 237. million for travels last year. However, due to the covid-19 pandemic, government officials could not travel frequently.
The government allocated MVR 170.6 million for travel in this year's budget. A total of MVR 35 million was allocated for travels by the sea while MVR 7.1 million was allocated for land-based travels. In addition, MVR 37.9 million was allocated for domestic travels by air. A sum of MVR 50.3 million was allocated for international travels.
A total of MVR 16.4 million was spent by President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih alone in his first year as president.
In an interview given to RaajjeTV while on the campaign trail, the then-presidential candidate Solih claimed that he would travel abroad for the New Year, every year, with his family and that he regretted that he would not be able to make such trips as President. In other interviews, President Solih has also mentioned that he was fond of traveling.