Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer has revealed that over 4,000 job opportunities will be opened for the people within the government, under the schemes for the state budget proposed for the upcoming year.

Speaking at the Budget Committee meeting on Saturday night, Minister Ameer stated that the state budget will multiply the job opportunities currently available for the people in government, under the state budget.

Ameer estimated about 4,063 public service job opportunities to open up once said schemes come into effect.

Job offers are also expected to increase in the private sector, said Ameer.

The government highly prioritizes creating more job opportunities for the people, having initiated several efforts to ensure more doors open in the employment sector.

Also at the meeting, the finance minister revealed that the ministry is currently working to amend the tender process for some of the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) projects marked within the scope of the budget for 2020, a way that provides opportunity just for local companies.

He said that the economic council will pass a tender process after thorough evaluation, after which it will be gazette within the next month.

Highlighting that several projects are funded by foreign parties, Ameer said that several foreign parties are observably submitting competitive bids to carry out projects once the ministry opened for international bidding.

While the proposal for the state budget 2020 was presented at the parliament sitting on 4 November and forwarded for committee review the same day, it is being evaluated jointly by the Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Economic Affairs as stipulated under the parliament regulations. As such, the Budget Committee will be chaired by MP for Kinbidhoo constituency Mohamed Nashiz with Alifushi constituency MP Mohamed Rasheed Hussain as Vice Chair.

During the first meeting of the Budget Committee, members passed the proposed guidelines as they were, and proposed to summon the Auditor General and officials of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) for recommendations.

The proposed state budget of MVR 37.5 billion has an expenditure of MVR 35.6 billion and the biggest Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) seen in the country’s history, set at MVR 10.1 billion, MVR five billion more than the past year.

Presenting the budget, Minister Ameer revealed that the first time the ministry has been able to compile a state budget under the government’s manifesto and “Jazeera Raajje” or island nation, vision. The budget is expected to provide an easier lifestyle for the people.

The government further envisions to complete water and sewerage projects across 157 islands within 2020-2021 under the PSIP budget. Several projects have been marked across the nation under the scope of the state budget.