Budget debate to continue until 11pm

The budget debate has been approved to continue until 11pm Wednesday.

The proposal to continue the budget debate until 11pm Wednesday and to hold a sitting on Thursday as well, until the budget debate wraps up, was made by the chair.

Speaker of the Parliament Abdul Raheem Abdulla who is presiding over the sitting, said that he would extend the time of the sittings for Wednesday and Thursday to continue the budget debate.

The speaker put to vote the proposal to extend the session time until 11pm, allowing for breaks, to accommodate all lawmakers who wish to speak on the proposed state budget for 2025.

Further, Thursday’s Majlis sitting will be extended as well, to allow opportunities for lawmakers who have registered to speak, including breaks.

The time extension was unanimously approved by 52 parliamentarians who participated in the vote.

The debate on the state budget for the coming year began in the People's Majlis on Tuesday. However, no details of the budget were provided.

The details of budget expenditure have not been shared with the members of the People's Majlis, and the main budget book is not accessible through budget.gov.mv either.

The Budget Committee of the People’s Majlis earlier approved to complete the work on the 2025 state budget before November 20.

The estimated budget for the year 2025 was submitted to the People’s Majlis on October 31. The budget proposed for the coming year totals MVR 56,647,600,859.

Minister of Finance Moosa Zameer submitted the proposed state budget for the upcoming year, during the parliamentary sitting on October 31.

He said that the expenditure would be capped at MVR 49.2 billion including MVR 35.9 billion as recurrent expenditure and MVR 13.3 billion as capital expenditure.

Further, the minister added that MVR 12.4 billion has been earmarked for the Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP) in next year's budget.

It is estimated that MVR 39.8 billion will be received as revenue and grants in 2025 and a deficit budget of MVR 9.4 billion is being proposed for the coming year.

Zameer stated that MVR 6.6 billion will be reduced through cost-cutting measures.

The 2025 budget includes the implementation of reforms throughout the year.