Govt spends excess MVR 400 mil despite paused projects

The government has spent an excess of MVR 400 million from the budgeted total on procuring machinery and equipment despite projects being put on halt owing to budget contractions.

According to the fiscal updates from the Ministry of Finance as of December 12, 2024 the government has received a year-to-date revenue of MVR 32.3 billion, while it had spent MVR 44.6 billion on expenditures.

Out of the expenditure total, the government has spent MVR 31.4 billion on recurrent expenses which include administrative and operational expenses of the state and salaries of public sector employees. Capital expenditure of the government stood at MVR 13.1 billion, which is lower compared to the same period last year. The budgeted total for capital expenditure for 2024 is MVR 16.7 billion.

Last year the state spent MVR 13.9 billion on capital expenditure.

Although capital expenditure overall saw a decline, from the individual categories under this; spending on capital equipment stood at MVR 952 million, which is an excess of MVR 400 million from the budgeted MVR 552 million for this year.

Under capital expenditure, the budgeted total for the procurement of furniture, machinery and equipment is MVR 498 million, but the current expenditure is at MVR 679 million. The budgeted total for procurement of vehicles is MVR 54 million, but expense is at MVR 267 million.

Besides this, the budgeted allocation for minor extensions is MVR 100,000 but the state has spent MVR 6.2 million so far. Minor extensions include additional expenses incurred owing to extension of project durations.

Under capital expenditure, the government has spent MVR 9.8 billion on infrastructure assets which include roads, bridges, airports, land and buildings. In the same period last year, state spent MVR 11.03 billion on infrastructure assets, while the budgeted total for this year MVR 10.9 billion.

The incumbent administration that assumed power in November last year, had complained the previous government had not allocated sufficient budget for planned projects in its budget for 2024.

While the current parliament, controlled with a super-majority of ruling People’s National Congress (PNC), has approved a state budget of MVR 56.6 billion for the upcoming year, the government is confident it can execute all the projects set out in the budget.