Aasandha spending exceeds budgeted level

Spending on Aasandha, the national health insurance scheme, has exceeded the figure earmarked in this year’s budget.

Statistics released by Finance Ministry shows over MVR 795 million was spent on Aasandha by June 9 – well over the MVR 750 million in funds earmarked for the scheme in the 2022 budget.

The figure is also higher than the MVR 658 million spent on Aasandha in the same period last year.

Spending on subsidies has also exceeded the funds earmarked for it in this year’s budget. Total MVR 1.44 billion was earmarked for subsidies in this year’s budget. However, spending on subsidies currently stands at MVR 1.46 billion.

The increase in spending on subsidies is attributed to the spike in global prices of essential products such as fuel and staples.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, during a recent press conference, said his administration was working on revising its subsidy policy and reaching a targeted subsidy.

“Whether fuel subsidies, food subsidies, or direct subsidies… We are looking into how we can grant this, how we can grant this the easiest way. This is also something we need to do,” he said.

The government states it is also implementing additional fiscal consolidation measures.