The Government of the Maldives has prioritised reducing travel needs for students and increasing job opportunities in the proposed state budget for 2022.
Speaking to PSM News, Chief Financial Budget Executive at the Ministry of Finance Ahmed Saruvash said next year's state budget provides funding to important projects in all sectors. Saruvash detailed the budget includes funding to continue ongoing projects as well as for building five tertiary hospitals. He also said the government plans to reduce the travel need for students by expanding the education sector to provide higher education opportunities in the atolls. The government plans to expand the country's human resources by providing more jobs in the education and health sector, he said.
The proposed state budget for next year includes hiring 400 new teachers, 160 doctors, and over 200 nurses. The government has also proposed to spend USD 147 million on employees in the education sector and USD 146 million on employees in the health sector.
Noting the biggest challenge is to provide less than the funding proposed by the various sector, Sharuvash detailed the state budget would inflate to USD 3.9 billion if the government provides the funding proposed by the state offices. However, Sharuvash said the amount of funding to be provided to state offices next year is mostly the same as the current funding. He said state offices that wish to begin new programmes can do so after discussions with the finance ministry, the Ministry of National Planning, Housing, and Infrastructure, and the President's Office.
He said the proposed budget allows for many new programmes and opportunities to create new jobs, especially in the sectors of farming and agriculture and fisheries.