Parliament on Thursday approved a MVR 26.7 billion state budget for 2017.
The government proposed the budget to Parliament on the 8th of this month. The proposed budget for 2017 is MVR0.75 billion less than the one approved for 2015.
The budget was passed at Thursday’s sitting with votes of 60 members in favour and 15 against.
According to the budget proposal, the recurrent expenditure for next year is lowered by MVR2 billion to MVR14 billion, while the recurrent expenditure for the current year stands at MVR16 billion.
51% of next year’s budget is to be spent on recurrent expenditure while 49% is allocated for capital expenditure.
61% of the MVR14 billion allocated for recurrent expenditure is to be spent on salaries, allowances and pensions.
13 amendments were proposed to the budget during the review, of which 10 were passed by the budget committee.
21 new development projects were included in the budget during the review, though the total budget figure was not amended.
The budget committee also consulted Governor of Maldives Monetary Authority - Dr. Azeema Adam and Auditor General Hassan Ziyath during the review.
60% of the total budget, accounting to MVR 8 billion, is earmarked for Public Sector Investment Programmes.