NSPA owes MVR 662 million to local and foreign hospitals

The National Social Protection Agency (NSPA) is currently in default on MVR 662 million owed to hospitals both domestically and internationally, the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament revealed on Saturday. 

According to statistics released by the Public Accounts Committee, Aasandha's outstanding payments to various institutions, including hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies, totaled MVR 1.15 billion as of November 17, 2023. NSPA's outstanding debt to hospitals, both local and foreign, amounted to MVR 1.5 billion between November 17, 2023, and July 22, 2024.

The committee noted that NSPA's outstanding amount as of November 17, 2023, was MVR 491 million, broken down as follows:

• Over MVR 125 million owed to state agencies

• Over MVR 101 million owed to foreign hospitals

• Over MVR 80 million owed to hospitals in Maldives

• Over MVR 48 million owed to clinics

• Over MVR 136 million owed to pharmacies

While some payments were made before July 22 of the previous year, and an additional MVR 380 million was disbursed to various parties by the same date, the committee report states that over MVR 662 million remains unpaid by NSPA since July 22 of last year.

Regarding Aasandha, the committee's report detailed the following outstanding payments as of November 17, 2023:

• Over MVR 260 million for clinics

• Over MVR 14 million for prescription glasses

• Over MVR 157 million for overseas hospitals

• Over MVR 516 million for pharmacies

• Over MVR 112 million for private hospitals

• Over MVR 1.7 million for private welfare companies

• Over MVR 2.8 million for prosthetics

• Over MVR 79.9 million for transportation

The committee's report also indicated that MVR 1.06 billion from this year's budget had been spent as of July 10, 2013, to address the debts of Aasandha and NSPA.

It is important to note that the Public Accounts Committee's report is not yet finalized, with further study planned.

Latest figures from the Finance Ministry indicate that MVR 1.83 billion has been spent so far from the MVR 3.93 billion allocated to NSPA for this year. Similarly, the Health Ministry has spent MVR 1.05 billion out of its MVR 2.62 billion budget for the current year.

The Finance Ministry's data also reveals that the state has nearly depleted the MVR 3.873 million earmarked for loan repayments, with only MVR 2.4 million remaining as of the seventh month of the current fiscal year.