Ministry of Finance has revealed USD 221 million has been spent for COVID-19 relief efforts in the Maldives as of May 20. The weekly COVID-19 spending report publicised by the finance ministry revealed the total expenditure towards COVID-19 health and social efforts stood at USD 110 million, which is a 1.7% increase from the week before.
In the report, the ministry also revealed the total disbursements made to Economic Response Spending schemes also stood at 110 million US dollars, which remains unchanged from the week before.
The government introduced economic response spending schemes to financially assist citizens, households, and businesses struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the economic response spending, the government spent USD 75 million on COVID-19 Recovery Loan Scheme, USD 27 million on income support allowance, and USD 9.3 million on discounts on electricity and water bills.
Furthermore, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) received the most funding with USD 56.4 million, while Ministry of Health received USD 32.3 million, and Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) received USD 9.4 million.
The report also shows the government spent USD 32.5 million on supplies and requisites for service provision services, which includes medical equipment such as testing kits and personal protective equipment (PPE).