Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer has submitted the proposed State Budget for 2023 to the Parliament of the Maldives. The government proposed MVR 42.6 billion for the year 2023.
Presenting the budget, Minister Ameer said the main objective of next year’s budget is to fulfill the promises made by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih which aims to facilitate the resolution of many basic issues that have not been resolved for a long time, improving the quality of services needed by the people and to prove the capability of social and economic revolutionary changes.
Highlighting details of the state budget, Minister Ameer said MVR 40.6 billion of the budget is indicated to be expenditure while MVR 28.6 billion is indicated to be recurrent expenditure. Meanwhile, he noted that MVR 14.1 billion is allocated as capital expenditure and the majority of the budget-expenditure gap includes the MVR 2.1 billion to be utilised for loan repayment.
Furthermore, Minister Ameer said MVR 12.9 billion is allocated for salaries and pensions, MVR 5.6 billion is allocated for recurrent expenditures such as procurement of goods and services as well as transportation and repairs, and MVR 6.6 billion allocated is allocated for subsidies and assistance. He revealed in terms of capital expenditure, the majority is proposed for Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) with MVR 8.4 billion for development projects.
With fiscal consolidation measures, the budget deficit is expected to be reduced to MVR 8.5 billion next year. Minister Ameer said MVR 11.5 billion would be required to cover the deficit and debt and also to finance the budget including the transfer of the Sovereign Development Fund (SDF). He expressed that the economy will surpass the pre-COVID-19 level and the state revenue will also increase in 2023. He added the government is expected to receive MVR 32.1 billion in revenue and grants next year.
