Ministry of Finance has revealed over USD 50 million has been spent for the efforts to overcome the COVID-19 crisis in the Maldives.
As per the weekly spending report of the finance ministry, USD 52.5 million has been spent by the state for COVID-19 related expenses by May 7. State expenditure for COVID-19 at the end of the previous week had stood at USD 42.9 million.
The largest share of the expenditure was spent on National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), with USD 33.9 million spent on its operations. USD 8.8 million has been spent on the operations of Ministry of Health, while USD 1.8 million has been spent on Ministry of National Planning and Infrastructure. Meanwhile, USD 387,200 has been spent on Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), USD 225,865 on Ministry of Foreign Affairs and USD 187,145 on National Social Protection Agency (NSPA). No other institution has reported an expenditure exceeding USD 64,500.
The statistics from the finance ministry indicate a large percentage of the COVID-19 expenses involved the purchase of medical supplies and equipment. As such, USD 25.1 million has been spent on purchasing medical supplies and equipment used to treat COVID-19 patients and materials used for the protection of healthcare workers.
Furthermore, the finance ministry revealed USD 7.2 million has been spent on grants and subsidies since the beginning of the pandemic. The government has also spent USD 3.5 million on the development of quarantine and isolation facilities, while USD 477,540 has been spent on the renovation and maintenance of such facilities.
The total expenditure from the Disaster Management Fund by the end of last week stood at USD 5.4 million. In addition, USD 1.6 million has been spent from the Tourism Activities Implementation Fund, while another USD 193,600 has been spent from the Zakat Fund.
The government has assured any expenses required to ensure the safety and well-being of the public will be undertaken without hesitation. The government has also taken several measures to reduce non-essential expenditure, such as imposing pay cuts on government employees who earn above a set threshold. The government is also working on acquiring foreign grants and loans to assist economic recovery.