Friday
26th Apr 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer. Photo: People's Majlis
The government has proposed a budget of MVR 42.6 billion to the parliament.
Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer presented next year’s budget to the parliament this morning.
The budget estimated an income of MVR 32 billion, while state expenses were estimated at MVR 40.5 billion.
According to the budget, 67 percent of the estimate was recurrent expenses and the rest is capital expenses. The government stated that the majority of the recurrent expenses will include salaries paid to civil servants and funds paid as subsidies.
The government submitted MVR 8.459 billion as a lower estimate for next year’s budget deficit. However, the Finance Minister stated that the budget deficit is estimated to rise to MVR 14 billion should the state fail to earn the tax income as pushed by the government.
The Finance Ministry surmised that the state shall have to acquire an additional MVR 11.453 billion to satisfy the projected budget, which includes MVR 2.101 billion to settle the budget deficit in addition to loan repayments.
Based on next year’s outcome projections, the government estimated that public debt will rise by 9.2 percent next year, to reach a staggering total of MVR 101.953 billion.