Statistics show state expenditure high, despite low revenue

Finance Ministry statistics have shown that the expenditure of the state had not decreased despite the reduction in revenue.

The stated earned MVR 4.13 billion last week, which is a reduction of MVR 785.80 million compared to last year when the state earned MVR 4.92 billion.

Income from the import duty, GST, TGST, Airport Service Charge, Airport Development Fees compared with the same period for last year, decreased. This reduction is strongly attributed to the current situation with the Covid-19 virus in the Maldives. The government has expected the negative impact of the virus on the tourism industry and other businesses as well.

The state expenditure up until last week had stood at MVR 4.84 billion. A large share of the expenditure was spent on the wages of employees. MVR 1.67 billion was spent on wages while a further MVR 1.58 billion was spent on administrative costs.

Travel expenses of the state had been cut down significantly. MVR 35.7 million was spent on travel last year while the figure for this year was reduced to MVR 28.8 million. MVR 183.8 million was spent on Aasandha health scheme while MVR 355.5 was spent on subsidies.

The government is undertaking massive efforts to cut down on expenditure due to the negative impact of the Covid-19 virus. President Solih had stated that the GDP of the country will be fall to -5% this year due to the economic impact.