The Maldivian government’s recurrent expenditures increased by MVR 627 million in the first week of June this year compared to the same period last year.
The Ministry of Finance’s latest “Weekly Fiscal Development Report” shows recurrent expenditures increased by MVR 627 million over the previous year, with 14.12 billion spent as of June 6th, 2024; the government spent 13.6 billion in recurrent expenses during the same period last year.
The rise in recurrent expenditure is despite the government significantly reducing project expenditures. The government spent MVR 2.15 billion on development projects compared to the MVR 5.35 billion spent on projects in the same period last year.
The budget for this year allocated MVR 8.9 billion for PSIP (Public Sector Investment Programme) projects, but only 24% of the budget was spent on the projects by mid-year.
Despite these expenditure reductions, recurrent expenditures have increased. The report shows staffing costs rising exponentially, with employee expenses increasing by 11% this year.
The government’s revenue increased by MVR 307 million compared to the same period last year. The total income received in the previous year was MVR 15.4 billion this year, including MVR 12.4 billion in taxes, MVR 2.7 billion in other revenue, and MVR 156 million in grants.
