The Finance Ministry figures have shown that less than 17 percent of the MVR 12 billion budgeted for Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP) has been used over the past six months.
According to the latest Weekly Fiscal Development Report, MVR 2.1 billion was spent on PSIP projects as of the 26th week of this year. This is MVR 3 billion less than the same period last year.
The largest expenditure under the PSIP was on transportation projects. This area includes airports, ports and bridges. The next biggest expenditure was on land reclamation and road construction.
The government promoted the budget as a "housing budget" but only MVR 108 million has been spent on the housing sector so far this year.
There is a budget surplus as a result of low spending on PSIP projects. The primary surplus stood at MVR 3.4 billion while the overall surplus was above MVR 1 billion.
