Heavy criticism has been aimed at the Foreign Ministry and its minister Abdulla Shahid, with many accusing the minister of 'emptying' the allocated budget to the ministry after it came to light that the ministry had spent over MVR 50 million during the first three weeks of the year.
The numbers were gathered from the Weekly Fiscal Development Report published by the Finance Ministry. According to the reports, Foreign Ministry spent MVR 51.5 million during the period between January 1 to 23.
However, upon taking a closer look at these numbers and its calculations, it is clear that the numbers in the report does not paint an accurate picture of how the funds were spent. As per the numbers, a huge percantage of the funds were sent to diplomatic missions established all over the globe.
Almost MVR 52 million was sent to 16 diplomatic missions by the Foreign Ministry during the first month of the year. It has been reported that these numbers make up the first quarter budget for the missions. This means, the total amount sent to diplomatic missions will be deducted from the total budget allocated for the Foreign Ministry, including remunerations and administrative costs.
The ministry directly spent MVR 11 million during this period. This includes annual payments to member organizations and other fees which adds up to over MVR 4 million. Another large payment includes the monthly rent paid for the MTCC building where the ministry has been temporarily relocated to due to ongoing renovations at the ministry building.
While the foreign minister has been heavily criticized for being on a 'world tour' at the expense of the state, the numbers show that approximately MVR 400,000 were spent on international visits this January. Another MVR 800,000 was incurred for VIP services, which includes the cost of hosting foreign nationals who visit the country.
Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid
