For nearly two years, the government has spoken of reforming state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and freeing them from dependence on state funding. In 2024, the administration even pledged to grant full independence to the Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB), a supposed turning point in SOE reform.

Yet the newly proposed 2026 state budget tells an entirely different story. Despite repeated promises of reform and self-sufficiency, the government plans to inject MVR 2.4 billion into these very companies, a clear sign that little has changed.

Worse still, the administration has concealed how SOE funds from this year’s budget were actually spent. The details only surfaced when the new budget was submitted to the People’s Majlis, raising serious questions about transparency and accountability.

A closer look at the figures exposes the scale of the contradiction. The 2026 budget allocates MVR 612 million for Trade Net, MVR 235 million for Fenaka, MVR 389 million for Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation, and MVR 500 million for STELCO. Newly formed companies are also receiving substantial sums: MVR 16 million for the still-inactive Development Bank and MVR 280 million for the Infrastructure Development Solution Company. Even a recently created pharmaceutical company is set to receive MVR 107 million, despite not being part of this year’s approved budget.

These numbers make one thing clear: the government has no real plan to make SOEs financially independent. Instead of steering them toward sustainability, the administration continues to prop them up with public funds, contradicting its own reform rhetoric.

The government had also announced plans to merge several SOEs to cut costs and improve efficiency. However, only MACL and RACL were merged, a move that failed to reduce expenses and instead created new layers of inefficiency. Despite earlier statements about merging Fenaka with another entity, the new budget allocates separate funding for the company for the next three years, signaling no intention to follow through.

In practice, there is no visible effort to revitalize these companies. High-profile symposiums and management meetings have produced no tangible results for citizens. Meanwhile, SOEs continue their pattern of politically motivated hiring; positions distributed to allies and supporters around election periods or major political events.

At the halfway point of this administration, it is increasingly clear that reform remains an empty slogan. With the same politically driven mindset and unchecked spending, SOEs will continue to drain the state budget, and the cycle of dependency will only deepen.