The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) is expecting to receive a state income of MVR 8.95 billion this year.

In a press briefing held at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) on Wednesday afternoon, the authority’s Commissioner General of Taxation, Fathuhulla Jameel revealed that this is a 48% drop in comparison to the number anticipated by MIRA.

The authorities earlier anticipated to receive an income of MVR 17.2 billion under the state budget.

MVR 8.95 billion is the amount MIRA has anticipated to receive in "Scenario Three", among the five scenarios shared with the Ministry of Finance as well as the People’s Majlis should the economy start flowing.

Earlier, the Minister of Finance, Ibrahim Ameer also revealed that the Maldives tourism industry is expected to reopen during the month of July.

The government has predicted five scenarios for the tourism industry, out of which the Maldives is currently in “Scenario Three”.

In this scenario, Maldives is expected to see 50% tourist arrivals with 462,868 tourist arrivals expected over the course of the remaining months of the year.

Under “Scenario Four”, the authority is expected to receive an income of MVR 7.67 billion and the tourism industry is expected to commence within October.

In the worst case scenario, the income is anticipated to be at MVR 6.62 billion with the Maldives opening its border during January 2021.

Jameel reiterated the authorities’ concern that the economy had dropped due the tourism industry coming to a standstill, which provides 60% of the state income.

During January 2020, the authority received an income of MVR 1.8 billion, followed by MVR 527 million during April. By the time May rolled around, the state income saw a MVR 109 million addition.