The Finance Ministry is set to present the proposed state budget for next year – one that President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu says focuses on boosting healthcare services – on Thursday.
The Parliament has scheduled a sitting for 09:00 am Thursday for the budget presentation.
The announcement was made by Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla at the end of Wednesday’s sitting.
The Finance Ministry has not disclosed any information regarding the budget figure.
President Muizzu has recently said that next year’s budget will be focused on strengthening the country’s healthcare system.
While next year’s budget is being promoted as a health budget, this year’s budget had previously been touted by government officials as a “housing budget.”
However, the actual numbers paint a different picture.
The latest fiscal report released by the Finance Ministry shows that only nine percent of the MVR 1.8 billion allocated for housing has been spent.
The ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) had used its Parliament supermajority to pass a record-high MVR 56.6 billion budget for this year. But with just two months left until the end of the year, the total expenditure stands at MVR 30.5 billion, and the total revenue at MVR 30.7 billion, with the government careful not to spend beyond its means.
This comes as the country grapples with staggering debt, both internal and external.
The government has been accused by the opposition of owing billions of Rufiyaa to suppliers. However, the actual figure remains unclear as the Finance Ministry has repeatedly declined to disclose this figure.
But earlier this month, President Muizzu said the government will soon finish paying off MVR 2 billion in outstanding payments to suppliers.
The opposition alleges that the government plans to get this done by having the central bank invest MVR 2.5 billion in the pension fund and then having the Pension Administration Office invest the money in a government bond – something that they warn is the same as money printing.
The MVR 30.5 billion spent so far this year includes MVR 26.5 billion in recurrent expenses – making for a staggering 87 percent of total costs. The spending on capital expenditure stands at MVR 4 billion – a mere 13 percent of total costs.