Total Covid-19 related expenditure has reached MVR 2.8 billion.
According to the Ministry of Finance’s weekly Covid-19 spending report, total spending towards health and social efforts stood at MVR 1,362.6 million by December 17, which is a 1.5 percent increase from the previous week, while the total disbursements under Covid-19 Economic Response scheme reached MVR 1,398.5 million. This is a 1.3 percent increase compared to the previous week.
While the Ministry of Health had the highest spending within the week, at MVR 18.3 million, the report noted that the majority of their spending was on supplies and requisites for service provision and that 43.8 percent of it was committed-spending.
With this, the health ministry has spent a total of MVR 246.5 million in Covid-19 related efforts. MVR 110.2 million was for supplies and requisites for service provision while MVR 78.5 million was used for capital equipment and MVR 38.1 on operational services. MVR 6.6 million was used for travel expenses as well as repairs and maintenance with MVR 3.2 million and MVR 3.3 million on employees’ allowances and supplies and requisites, respectively.
The finance ministry’s report notes that other agencies reported small incremental changes in their spending during the review period.
Despite no additional expenses within this period, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has the highest total expenditure thus far, at MVR 871.7 million, including MVR 84.1 million for the Disaster Management Fund.
While Ministry of Health remains in second in terms of Covid-19 related spending with MVR 246.4 million, state-run Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) had spent a total of MVR 86.9 million by December 17, an MVR one million increase from the previous week.
Additional Covid-19 health and social spending:
- Maldives Immigration – MVR 0.9 million
- Maldives National Defence Force – MVR 42.6 million
- Maldives Police Service – MVR 24.4 million
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs – MVR 6.8 million
- Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Affairs – MVR 3.6 million
- Ministry of National Planning and Infrastructure – MVR 37.3 million
- Ministry of Tourism (Tourism Activities Implementation Fund) – MVR 29 million
- Ministry of Higher Education – MVR 3.3 million
- National Social Protection Agency – MVR 8.6 million
- National Drug Agency – MVR 1.1 million
While the total disbursements under Covid-19 Economic Response scheme stood at MVR 1.40 billion by December 17, MVR 17.8 million was for the implementation of Income Support Allowance. A total of MVR 182 million was distributed under this scheme by December 17, an increase of about MVR 17 million from the previous review period.
The finance ministry’s report said that there were no additional disbursements to any other economic response schemes, within the period.