Minister: Political appointees' salaries make for nearly 4% of total payroll

The payment of salaries and allowances for political appointees make for nearly four percent of the total payroll, according to Finance Minister Moosa Zameer.

The Finance Ministry has submitted a proposed supplementary budget of MVR 5.1 billion, which will increase the 2024 state budget to MVR 55 billion.

While presenting the budget to the Parliament on Thursday morning, Zameer said the salaries for political appointees account for close to four percent of the total payroll.

“We have also implemented measures to reduce the government’s administrative expenses. We have implemented multiple controls to cut down expenses on things like travel and functions. And this is producing results,” he said.

On Wednesday, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu announced the decision to introduce pay cuts for two years in the 2025 budget. This includes a 10 percent reduction in the salaries of political appointees, employees of state-owned enterprises, heads of independent institutions, and top judicial officials.

Zameer said the decision stemmed from the need to implement all possible measures to restore fiscal sustainability.

“This change is being brought to fully engage in efforts to restore fiscal sustainability, and take all possible measures, no matter how small,” he said.

The MVR 49.8 billion state budget for 2024 that was passed by the Parliament last year has an allocation of MVR 11.95 billion for salaries and allowances to government employees. The supplementary budget has an allocation of an additional MVR 24.4 million. With this, the total budget allocation for salaries this year will rise to MVR 11.98 billion.

Four percent of this is MVR 479.2 million. Zameer said that salaries of political appointees are lower than but close to four percent.

The exact number of political appointments is unclear as the government has refused to disclose the figure. But last week, President Muizzu announced that 228 political appointees from different government ministries will be dismissed by the end of the month.

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) submitted an emergency motion asking the government to disclose the number of political appointees on Thursday. But the motion was rejected by the Parliament – which the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) holds a supermajority in.

During his 2023 presidential campaign, President Muizzu pledged to cap political appointments at 700. However, the MDP alleges that the number stands over 2,000.