Projected State Budget for 2014 sent to parliament

Minister of Finance Abdulla Jihad has said that the projected State Budget for 2014 was sent to the parliament today.

Jihad told Sun Online that all relevant documents have been sent to the parliament, and that the budget will be presented in the parliament on Wednesday.

He however refused to provide any budget details.

Last week, an official of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury said that the projected State Budget for 2014 is MVR 16.5 billion.

He said that the total projected revenue for next year is MVR 11 billion, which would leave the government with a deficit of MVR 5.5 billion.

For 2013, the government proposed a budget of MVR 16.9 billion, but the parliament cut down the figure to MVR 15.2 billion before the budget was passed, resulting in several measures having to be taken to reduce government expenses.

Finance Minister Jihad said recently that due to the failure to pass several projects proposed in the budget for 2013 to generate revenue, the deficit is likely to be higher than projected.