With an additional MVR 640mn, govt projects total revenue will top MVR 34bn

Finance Ministry estimates the state will receive an additional injection of MVR 640.1 million in revenue, increasing total projected revenue this year to MVR 34.2 billion.

Finance Minister Moosa Zameer presented a proposed supplementary budget of MVR 5.1 billion to the Parliament on Thursday. This will increase the 2024 budget to MVR 55 billion.

According to the supplementary budget figures, the Finance Ministry estimates the state will receive an additional MVR 640.1 million in revenue and grants.

The Finance Ministry previously projected an annual revenue of MVR 33 billion for 2024. But with the additional MVR 640.1 million, the ministry estimates the state will receive MVR 34.2 billion as income this year.

The state collected MVR 26.9 billion in revenue and grants as of September 30.

The Finance Ministry now projects that the planned tax hike will result in an additional MVR 61.6 million in tax revenue, along with an additional MVR 379.2 million in non-tax revenue, and MVR 199.3 million in grants.

The Finance Ministry said that it decided to submit the supplementary budget not because the government has exhausted the 2024 state budget. According to the ministry, the total spending as of September 30 stands at MVR 37.4 billion – 76 percent of the budget.

The Parliament last year passed an MVR 49.8 billion state budget for 2024.

During a parliamentary sitting on Thursday morning, Zameer presented a supplementary budget of MVR 5,119,508,129. This will increase the 2024 budget to MVR 55 billion.

With the supplementary budget, the total budget deficit will increase to MVR 18 billion, which is 16 percent of the GDP.

The Finance Ministry projects the debt-GDP ration will be at 118 percent at the end of the year.

The MVR 5.1 billion supplementary budget proposed by the government is significantly lower than the previously estimated MVR 10 billion.