Ministry of Finance has allocated USD32 million in the supplementary budget for the higher education student loan programme.
The government has proposed a USD422 million supplementary budget to cover the expenditures for this year's state budget. The budget for this year would increase from USD3 billion to USD3.2 billion if the Parliament passes the supplementary budget.
The supplementary budget will mainly be spent on Public Sector Investment Programmes (PSIP), national health insurance, subsidies, and capital contributions to state-owned companies. The ministry stated that the productivity for PSIP projects increased during the year and other expenditures exceeded the budgeted amount, adding that the planned expenditure reduction measures have not been properly implemented.
Additionally, USD32 million was allocated in the supplementary budget for the higher education student loan programme as more than the expected number of loans were disbursed to students this year. The Ministry of Higher Education opened this year's student loans on February 15. A total of 1,507 students applied for the 720 loan opportunities and the government later decided to give loans to all 1,275 eligible students.
A total of USD340 million is needed to finance the USD422 million budget. Of which, USD71 million will be used to finance the PSIP. The ministry also plans to raise USD200 million in budget support from foreign parties and USD123 million locally.
The finance ministry stated it had submitted a supplementary budget to the Parliament in accordance with Article 96 of the Constitution. The article states that the ministry can propose a supplementary budget if the expenditure exceeds the projected estimate in the approved state budget.