The government of the Maldives has announced it has spent USD 36.32 million in the fight against COVID-19.
Speaking at the daily press briefing, Spokesperson of the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) Mohamed Mabrook Azeez said the amount was the total sum for all COVID-19 related expenditure by April 25. He further detailed USD 5.45 million was used by State Trading Organisation (STO) to purchase a supply of staples and the funds were taken from Disaster Trust Fund. The amount was savings of the fund to ensure the availability of staples in the Maldives for a period of 10 months during a disaster. Mabrook said the funds will be deposited back after reselling the staples STO imports.
Meanwhile, the expenditure of operations of the NEOC, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of Health amounts to USD 25 million. Mabrook explained the health ministry and the NDMA used the funds to secure medical equipment, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), testing equipment, and reagent used for testing in addition to obtaining consumables, while NEOC used the funds on operations and Rapid Response Teams (RRT).
Furthermore, the spokesperson revealed USD 2.33 million from the total expenditure was spent on developing a 300-bed medical facility in Hulhumale', with an additional USD 1 million spent on civil work while another USD 1.26 million was spent on purchasing medical equipment for the medical facility.
The expenditure spent on Farukolhufushi Isolation Facility amounts to USD 473,000. An additional USD 1.75 million was spent on developing ICU beds and isolation facilities in five regions across the country. Furthermore, the amount spent on supporting stranded Maldivians overseas and repatriating medical students abroad totals to USD 408,000.
Mabrook stated the USD 103.76 million budget quoted by the Ministry of Finance is not the actual amount spent thus far, but rather the expected expenditure for April, May, June, and July following the COVID-19 pandemic.