The spending from the state budget for development projects has decreased while spending on salaries increased compared to last year.

According to the latest Weekly Fiscal Development Report released by the Finance Ministry, MVR 1.8 billion has been spent on development projects so far this year compared to MVR 4.4 billion last year.

The expenditure on defence and security projects stood at MVR 78.5 million in the same period last year compared to MVR 26.9 million this year.

Health sector projects cost MVR 51.8 million last year while the amount stood at MVR 39.9 million this year.

The expenditure on education projects stood at MVR 195.6 million during the same period last year as against MVR 107.3 million this year. That is MVR 7.1 million for universities and MVR 100.2 million for schools.

MVR 10.5 million was spent on university-related projects last year, while MVR 185.2 million was spent on school projects.

Environmental protection projects cost MVR 202.7 million last year compared to MVR 147.5 million this year. They were MVR 46.2 million for waste management, MVR 98.3 million for beach protection and MVR 3.0 million for renewable energy.

During the same period last year, MVR 45.5 million was spent on waste management, MVR 139.1 million on beach protection, MVR 6.3 million on drainage systems and MVR 11.7 million on renewable energy.

MVR 709.6 million was spent on water and sewerage projects during the same period last year while the amount stood at MVR 210 million this year.

MVR 1.4 billion was spent on projects related to transport in the same period last year as against MVR 299.9 million this year.

Spending on salary increased by 440 million

Expenditure on development projects decreased by MVR 2.6 billion compared to the same period last year while expenditure on salaries of public servants increased by MVR 440.9 million.

That is close to the amount spent on education, environmental protection and water and sewerage projects during the same period this year. The total expenditure on these sectors during the period was MVR 465.2 million.

Revenue increased during the period this year

Government revenue increased by MVR 515.1 million compared to the same period last year. The total revenue received during the same period last year was MVR 12.7 billion compared to MVR 13.2 billion this year.

That includes MVR 10.8 billion in taxes, MVR 2.2 billion in other revenue and MVR 91.4 billion in grants.

The latest weekly fiscal report released by the Finance Ministry details the government's expenditure as of May 16.