The budget for year 2021 has been submitted at the Parliament for approval.
According to the Public Finance Act, the budget for the upcoming year must be submitted to the parliament two months prior to the end of the year.
The Finance Ministry confirmed that a budget of MVR 35 billion has been submitted at the parliament for approval. The details of the budget will be presented to the Parliament by Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer.
After the expected revenue was severely impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry had previously stated that it would revise the budget passed for the current year. Finance Ministry’s Chief Financial Budget Executive, Ahmed Sharuvash Adam had told AVAS that the revised budget would be sent to the parliament very soon. The revised budget will not have much difference compared to the budget being proposed for next year, said Sharuvash.
The Parliament approved a budget of MVR 37.8 billion as the budget for the current year. The budget estimated a revenue of MVR 30 billion for the year. A revised scenario based on the current circumstance was modeled by ministry upon the country's border reopening.
The expected revenue through taxes is MVR 9.5 billion. While MVR 3 billion is expected as revenue generated by means other than tax, the maximum amount expected as grant assistance is MVR 2.9 billion. Therefore, the total revenue expected for the year is approximately MVR 15.2 billion for the year, out of which MVR 11 billion has already been generated.
While a budget deficit of 6.1 percent was previously anticipated, the figure is now expected to be between 7.13 to 9.22 percent. If the budget is to be balanced on these figures, additional funds between MVR 13 to 16 billion must be obtained. The government is working hard to ensure that the amount is collected.
