Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer has stated over USD 18.2 million has been added to the budget of the health sector for the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the Maldives.
Speaking at the online meeting held by the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts, Finance Minister Ameer said the government has been implementing several measures to counter the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the finance minister said the main focus of the government is to safeguard the country from the disease and to ensure the safety and well-being of the people, adding the government will undertake any expenses required for the measures taken to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the Maldives.
Speaking in this regard, the minister said over USD 18.2 million has been added to the state budget, including USD 14.9 million to the budget of Ministry of Health. He noted the remaining additions were made to the budgets of Maldives Police Service (MPS), Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), Maldives Immigration and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
Furthermore, the finance minister said USD 53.6 million has been deducted from the budgets of government offices and state institutions in order to reduce state expenditure. Noting staff recruitment has been put on hold in government offices, he said recurrent expenditure is expected to reduce by USD 64.9 million.
Furthermore, Minister Ameer revealed the state debt is expected to be between USD 4 billion and USD 4.3 billion by the end of the year, rather than the initial projection of USD 3.7 billion. He also noted the state income is expected to reduce to USD 974 million from the initial projection of USD 1.9 billion.
In addition to the measures taken to reduce state expenditure, the government has also been taking measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on individuals and local businesses. In this regard, economic relief packages have been introduced as immediate assistance for businesses affected by the pandemic.