The Parliament has approved the supplementary budget of MVR 1.7 billion proposed by the government.
An initial budget of MVR 30.2 billion was approved for the current year by the parliament. However, Finance Ministry requested for a supplementary budget last Sunday, which was approved with the votes of all 71 members who took part in the vote during Tuesday night's parliamentary sitting.
MVR 618.8 million extended by the government of Saudi Arabia was listed as revenue on the proposed supplementary budget, in addition to MVR 100 million facilitated by the Indian government. Therefore, with the addition of the supplementary budget, the total budget deficit would reach MVR 5 billion. The initial budget approved for the year had a deficit of MVR 4 billion.
Budget allocations in the supplementary budget are as follows:
Higher Education: MVR 300 million
Health: MVR 309 million
Planning: MVR 15.8 million
Education: MVR 94.5 million
Finance: MVR 925.9 million
While the budget allotted for Higher Education will finance student scholarships and loan schemes, MVR 81 million has been allocated for the student breakfast program.
MVR 294.5 million has been allocated to develop tertiary hospitals in five regions, and MVR 150 million will be utilized to complete projects undertaken by the government at the Hulhumale' Hospital.
MVR 18.7 million has been allocated for the new entities that were established under new laws. While MVR 350 million has been allocated for Small and Medium Enterprises, MVR 189.4 million will be used to provide subsidy for state owned companies.
Finance Ministry earlier stated that the government was in need of a supplementary budget due to the expenditure exceeding the forecast amount in fulfilling the pledges for the first 100 days of administration, and increase in incurred expenditure due to new laws coming into effect.
