Kinbidhoo MP Mohamed Nashiz will be chairing the Parliament's budget committee, which will review the proposed budget for 2022.
The budget will be reviewed by a joint committee of 27 members, consisting of members from the Public Finance Committee and the Economic Committee. Twenty-two members attended the first joint committee meeting held Monday.
During Monday's meeting, Dhaandhoo MP Yaugood Abdulla proposed to appoint Nashiz as the committee's chair and Alifushi MP Mohamed Rasheed Hussain as the Vice-Chair. Kaashidhoo MP Abdulla Jabir seconded the proposal, and all members who attended the meeting voted in favor of the appointment.
Nashiz, who is also the chair of the Public Finance Committee, was the chair of the joint committees that reviewed the budgets for 2020 and 2021.
The government proposed a budget of MVR 36.9 billion at Sunday's Parliament sitting. While the Maldives' economic outlook is set to improve due to a flourishing tourism sector, the government hopes to generate MVR 24.3 billion as revenue and grants. The proposed budget has a deficit of MVR 9.7 billion, 11.1 percent of the country's GDP.
The Parliament is set to begin the debate on the budget on November 8. The Budget Committee must send its report on the proposed budget to the Parliament floor before November 18. The debate on the report will commence on November 22, with the Parliament aiming to approve the budget before the end of the month.
