Ministry of Finance has revealed USD 246 million has been spent for COVID-19 relief efforts in the Maldives as of September 9.
The weekly COVID-19 spending report published by the finance ministry revealed the total expenditure for COVID-19 health and social spending stood at USD 246 million, which is a 0.04% increase from the week before.
In the report, the finance ministry stated in terms of week-on-week spending, the Ministry of Health registered the highest spending compared to its peers. The spending was mainly on supplies and requisites for service provision and the next significant spending was by the National Drug Agency (NDA) on supplies and requisites for service provision. The finance ministry stated other agencies only reported small incremental changes in the spending over the review period.
In the report, the ministry also revealed the total disbursements made to the economic response spending schemes stood at USD 115 million, which is 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 the COVID-19 recovery loan scheme, USD 27 million on income support allowance, and USD 13 million on discounts on electricity and water bills.
Furthermore, the health ministry received the most funding with USD 52 million, while the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) received USD 51 million, and Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) received USD 13 million. The report also shows the government spent USD 72 million on supplies and requisites for service provision services, which includes medical equipment such as testing kits and personal protective equipment (PPE).