The Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises has released USD 108.9 million in block grants to local councils as of September 3, according to the latest figures released by the ministry.
According to the weekly fiscal development report by the Finance Ministry, USD 108.9 million has been given to councils as block grants as of September 3rd, citing that this is a 17.4 percent increase from the same period last year. In the previous year, a total of USD 92 million was given as block grants to councils.
The total budget for block grants this year for councils is USD 162.1 million, making it the highest it had been in the history of the Maldives. In 2023 the budget was USD 136.2 million, with more than USD 519,000 spent additionally.
The largest portion of the grants were given to city councils, with Male’ city council receiving the most. Since 2020 the government releases block grants to councils from the state revenue, based on a fiscal formula.
The Government had announced that amendments were made to the block grants. One of the amendments include considering the land area of an island has rather than its population when deciding the amount of block grants to be given to the island. The Government further stated that since atoll councils were abolished, the amount given as block grants given to city councils and island councils would increase. The government views the changes as a measure to strengthen the financial capacity of councils and improve the implementation of development projects.