The Maldives Parliament has passed an MVR 49.8 billion (USD 3.2 billion) state budget for the upcoming 2024.
The budget was approved at Wednesday’s sitting, December 13 with 65 votes in favor.
The government earlier proposed an MVR 49.5 billion, which was assessed by the Budget Review Committee. The committee made revisions to it by removing the Fushidhiggaru reclamation project with a budgeted allocation of MVR 400 million, and redistributing the allocation to other ongoing initiatives and the Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP).
As such, the Budget Review Committee allocated MVR 200 million from the MVR 400 million for Fushidhiggaru towards expediting and completing the reclamation and development efforts of Giraavaru and Gulhifalhu. The other MVR 200 million was injected into the PSIP budget.
The budget deficit for the upcoming year is MVR 16.3 billion (MVR 914 million) with the government debt-to-GDP ratio expected to jump to 114.6%.
The government also expects receiving MVR 33.9 billion in revenue and grants for the 2024 fiscal year.