99 percent of subsidy budget exhausted: finance ministry
Maldives has spent MVR 1,836.4 million on subsidies as of August 2025, nearly exhausting the annual budget of MVR 1,859.6 million
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According to statistics from the Ministry of Finance and Planning, with five months remaining in the year, 99 percent of the budget allocated for subsidies this year has been exhausted.
Looking at the details of the financial statements released weekly by the Ministry of Finance and Planning, as of 7 August 2025, MVR 1,836.4 million has been spent on subsidies. The total budget allocated for subsidies this year was MVR 1,859.6 million.
Further, these figures show that with approximately five months left in the year, including the remaining days of the ongoing month, a large portion of the budget allocated for Aasandha has also been depleted. Out of the MVR 1,859.6 million budgeted for Aasandha this year, MVR 1,169.8 million had been spent by August 7. This represents 62.9 percent of the Aasandha budget.
The Maldives spends a significant amount on subsidies for staple foods and electricity. By this time last year, MVR 2.4 billion had been spent on subsidies. This is MVR 650 million more than what has been spent on subsidies so far this year. The government reduced the subsidy budget under the pretext of reforming subsidies to target only those most in need. However, as this has not been implemented so far, the subsidy budget has been almost completely exhausted.
According to the ministry's statistics, MVR 22.3 billion has been spent from the state budget so far this year. It also shows that the state has received MVR 23.7 billion in revenue.
While the government has been claiming a budget surplus based on these statistics, many people say this is a significant deception by the government to mislead the public. Many citizens point out that the billions of Maldivian Rufiyaa still owed to suppliers is clear evidence supporting this claim.
In addition to this, international financial institutions have highlighted that the Maldives faces a significant debt risk. Although figures show that state expenditures are not decreasing and debt is increasing, the government continues to assert that there is certainty about repaying the debts.
