Govt expenses exceeds income by MVR 5.8 billion

Statistics released by the Ministry of Finance show that the government’s expenses for this year have already exceeded its income by MVR 5.8 billion.

According to the weekly financial statistics released by the ministry, by August 25th, the state earned MVR 18.2 billion (MVR 18,207 million) in revenue; MVR 13.3 billion in tax-related income, MVR 4.7 billion in non-tax revenue and MVR 235 million as grant aid.

However, within that time, the government has spent MVR 24 billion (MVR 24,020 million) in expenses. The majority of the funds were spent on administrative expenses and recurrent expenditures of the administration. In addition to the MVR 7.1 billion spent on remuneration, MVR 10.4 billion was expended as miscellaneous expenses.

Conclusively, the government has collectively spent MVR 5.8 billion (MVR 5,813.7 million) more than the total gains between January 1st and August 25th. These excess funds seem to have been generated through the trade of T-Bills and by borrowing from internal and external markets.

According to the parliament-approved budget for 2022, an excess of MVR 9.8 billion more that yielded income will be spent within the year and it was forecasted to be funded through loans taken from internal and external markets.

Due to the Ukraine conflict, the global market has seen energy exports disrupted and fluctuation in food prices. Despite the government’s declaration to minimize its expenses, the government’s outflow exceeded last year’s by MVR 4.7 billion.