Finance Ministry statistics show that the government of Maldives has been able to source only six percent of aid from the budgeted amount for the year.
Statistics by the Ministry show that by 9th June 2022, MVR 178 million (US$ 11.6 million) was received as grant aid. Finance Ministry had predicted that the country would receive MVR 2.9 billion (US$ 188.3 million) as grant aid for 2022.
With six months left in the year and accounting for global economic trends, it is expected that the Government would not be able to achieve grant aid target.
Even last year, the Government was unable to reach grant aid target. For 2021, MVR 2.2 billion (US$ 142.9 million) was listed as the target – only MVR 1.1 billion (US$ 71.4 million) was received.
Speaking in the Parliament Committee that reviewed the budget, Central Bank Governor Ali Hashim expressed his concern over the widening gap between the targeted amount and the received amount.
Networking for grant aid is the biggest reason given for external trips taken by the Solih administration.