Allowances for former presidents fall under special budget now spent at MVR 20.5 billion

The “special budget”, which covers allowances for former presidents along with subsidies, transfers to government-owned companies, and other statutory expenditures, has reached MVR 20.59 billion in spending as of September 3, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Finance.  

The special budget is administered by the Ministry of Finance and includes major public-system obligations such as subsidies, council block grants, transfers to the Sovereign Development Fund, and expenditure related to former presidents and members of parliament.  

The report shows that MVR 20.59 billion has been utilized out of the MVR 27.97 billion approved for this year, leaving roughly MVR 7.3 billion unspent.  

According to the Weekly Fiscal Developments report, total government expenditure now stands at MVR 30.86 billion, an increase of 17 percent compared to MVR 26.38 billion during the same period last year.  

Recurrent expenditure rose by 18.6 percent, reaching MVR 26.98 billion, up from MVR 22.75 billion last year. Capital expenditure increased by 6.9 percent, from MVR 3.63 billion to MVR 3.88 billion.  

The largest increase in expenditure this week was in employee salaries and allowances. Spending in this category reached MVR 4.92 billion, compared to MVR 4.31 billion during the same period last year, an increase of MVR 610.9 million, or 14.2 percent.