The state budget of MVR 49.5 billion proposed for 2024 has been presented to the People’s Majlis.

Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer presented the proposed state budget for 2024 to the parliament, during Tuesday’s Majlis sitting.

A total of MVR 49,549,713,738 budget has been proposed for the upcoming year, out of which the MVR 47.3 billion has been earmarked for expenditure. This includes MVR 34.8 billion as recurrent expenditure and MVR 12.5 billion as capital expenditure.

In addition to these expenses, the budget proposed for the approaching year mainly includes MVR 2.2 billion required to meet the state's debt.

A total of MVR 14 billion has been earmarked for the salaries and pensions of employees in the upcoming year’s budget.

MVR 6.1 billion has been earmarked for recurring expenses such as procuring goods and services, transportation and repairs, as well as MVR 9.4 billion for subsidies and the provision of assistance.

MVR 5.2 billion has been budgeted to be spent on loan service expenses.

In terms of capital expenditure, the biggest expenses are likely to be for Public Sector Investment Programmes (PSIPs). These are development initiatives, for which MVR 8.7 billion has been earmarked.

Presenting the proposed state budget, Minister Ameer stated that many expenses will be observed in several sectors of the state for the welfare of the citizens, and that nearly one-fifth of the state's budget will be contributed by expenditure on economic and industrial development.

Further, he noted that the pay harmonization of the health sector will help improve the quality of employees in the sector.

He added that these are necessary expenses to be carried out by the state to ensure that quality healthcare is available to the general public.

Highlighting that the government is required to spend on the education sector to create a capable generation and ensure future economic and social sustainability as well, Ameer noted that the expenditure earmarked for the education sector is close to one-tenth of the budget for the upcoming year.

The minister added that as requested, the figure required by the President-elect’s office has also been included in the budget.

According to Article 96(a) of the Maldives Constitution, the finance minister is required to submit a budget containing the projected revenue and expenditures for the year for approval of the People’s Majlis, alongside a statement of the actual revenue and expenditures for the preceding year, before November 1 at the latest.

Article 211 of the People’s Majlis guidelines reiterates the same.

However, due to a controversial no-confidence motion submitted against then-speaker Mohamed Nasheed, delays were observed in proceeding with Majlis sittings over the past week, which hindered pending work on the budget, and other work.