The Finance Ministry has cut MVR 30 million from the budget approved for the judiciary this year.

The Finance Ministry cited a high deficit and difficult financing requirements in this year's budget as the reason for deducting MVR 30 million from the judiciary's budget.

"As the budget passed for 2024 is a high-deficit budget with difficulties in securing financing, it has become necessary to reduce the state's expenditure. Therefore, we inform you that your department's budget has been reduced as attached with this letter," a letter sent from the Finance Ministry to the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) stated.

A DJA official told Adhadhu that the MVR 30 million worth of cuts included the budget for infrastructure projects under the judiciary's Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP).

"No new court building can be started as a result," the official said.

The DJA is consulting with the Finance Ministry to review the reduced budget, Adhadhu has learned.

The budget approved by Parliament for this year allocated MVR 585.8 million to the DJA, including MVR 15 million for relocating the Criminal Court, MVR 2.2 million for the High Court's paralegal work and MVR 500,000 for implementing the civil procedures code, all of which were included by Parliament after reviewing the budget proposed by the previous government.

In addition to the judiciary, the government has also been cutting the budgets of other institutions, including the Maldives Media Council (MMC) and Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC). A list of all offices whose budgets have been reduced is not available yet.