The government's expenditure fell below revenue at the end of February, leading to a budget surplus for the second consecutive month, according to statistics publicized by the Finance Ministry.
The latest Weekly Fiscal Developments Report, which details the state's revenue and expenditure, shows that revenue stood at MVR 6.5 billion while expenditure stood at MVR 6.4 billion by the end of February.
The primary balance was in surplus of MVR 559.7 million while the overall balance was in surplus of MVR 15.7 million.
However, revenue was MVR 126.3 million lower than last year while expenditures were MVR 1.7 billion lower than the previous year. The year-on-year difference in expenditures is due to the reduction in capital expenditures.
Statistics show that spending on development or infrastructure assets has slowed. During this period last year, MVR 2.3 billion was spent on development while only MVR 818 million was spent this year. This is a difference of MVR 1.4 billion.
Meanwhile, recurrent expenditures, including administrative and operating expenses, were lower than the previous year. However, salary expenditure is about MVR 200 million higher.
The decrease in spending in expenditure comes as the government is making efforts to cut down costs.
A circular issued by the Finance Ministry last month said that all agencies must seek the ministry's authorization before spending more than MVR 35,000.
