The Ministry of Finance has formally submitted a budget proposal to Parliament, seeking an allocation of MVR 49.5 billion for the fiscal year 2024. This represents an increase of MVR 200 million compared to the current year’s budget.
Following the approval of a supplementary budget, the total budget for the ongoing fiscal year now stands at MVR 49.3 billion. It is expected that government expenditures for this year will reach MVR 47 billion, while state revenue is projected to increase to MVR 32 billion.
The fiscal strategy statement for the current fiscal year has set a target not to exceed MVR 50 billion for the upcoming fiscal year.
The detailed breakdown of the budget proposal for the next fiscal year will be revealed when the finance minister presents it in Parliament. As per the fiscal strategy statement, MVR 13 billion will need to be raised to cover the budget deficit for the next fiscal year, which is MVR 2 billion less than the current fiscal deficit of MVR 15 billion.
The budget for the fiscal year 2024 will include MVR 2.5 billion for debt repayments.
Parliament had scheduled the budget presentation session for today, but the Finance Minister did not attend, following the advice of the Attorney General. According to parliamentary rules, the finance minister must present the state budget for the upcoming year in Parliament by November 1 each year. The budget proposal now awaits further deliberation and examination by lawmakers.
