President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has decided to devise a policy to reduce expenditure and raise revenue in addition to a medium-term revenue strategy.
The President made the decision at Sunday's cabinet meeting, the President's Office said on Monday night.
Finance Minister Dr. Mohamed Shafeeq presented a paper seeking measures to be taken by the government. In recent weeks, Shafeeq repeatedly stated that the state's expenditure needs to be reduced.
In addition, the President decided at the meeting to assign a cabinet sub-committee to "oversee and facilitate efforts aimed at diversifying the Maldivian economy and exploring avenues for revenue growth," the President's Office.
President Muizzu's decision to cut costs came after the government’s recurrent expenditure increased by MVR 627 million by the first week of June compared to the same period last year.
The “Weekly Fiscal Developments” report published by the Finance Ministry with figures of government income and expenditure as of June 6 showed that expenditure on employees has been increasing significantly. The state’s wage bill increased 11 percent this year. Recurrent expenditure also increased by MVR 627 million compared to last year.
The current government came to power with a pledge to limit political staff to 700. However, the government has not disclosed the number of political appointees seven months after assuming office.
Adhadhu was previously informed that the figure was close to 2,000. Some media outlets reported this week that the government has started to reduce the number of political staff. The average number of political appointees is above 40 at ministries that have disclosed figures so far.
