Minister of National Planning and Infrastructure Mohamed Aslam has said most projects the administration has included in the State Budget to be conducted under the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) will be completed by the end of 2020.
In response to a question posed by Parliamentarian Yauqoob Abdulla when summoned to the parliament, Planning Minister Aslam said most projects allocated to be run as PSIP are continuing according to the schedule, adding most projects will be completed by the end of 2020.
The minister said the administration has awarded some projects this year with the intention to begin new projects without delay. He said while some projects have been contracted, others have been tendered or are in the tendering process. He added a total of 203 projects have begun thus far.
The planning minister further said although the budget constraints caused delays and challenges in completing projects, the budget allocations for 2020 is promising and would not cause delays in completing the projects. He said most PSIP projects will be completed by the end of next year with the positive budget allocations.
A significant USD 662 million has been allocated for PSIP projects in the USD 2.45 billion State Budget; the biggest ever budget the government has submitted to the parliament.
Although a considerably large amount has been allocated for PSIP projects in the past, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) told the Parliamentary Committee for Budget the allocations have not seen equivalent development projects.