Parliament of the Maldives has begun the debate stage of the proposed state budget for 2022.
The parliamentary debate on the proposed state budget begins each year, seven days after the budget is proposed and reviewed by the Parliamentary Budget Committee.
During the debate, Minority Leader Ahmed Saleem said the proposed state budget does not take into account the current economic situation in the country. He said the budget will increase the debt and proposed to reduce it to USD 1.6 billion from the proposed amount of USD 2.4 billion. However, parliamentarians representing the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said the proposed budget will bring hope to citizens by assisting individuals who were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The parliamentarians representing MDP said the proposed budget allows numerous projects to begin for infrastructure development and expansion of the health and education sectors. They highlighted that a large number of funds in the budget have also been allocated for the minimum wage and council budgets, as well as for the equal provision of services to all inhabited islands. They said the budget also provides more opportunities to begin projects and programmes to increase the state income and recover from the current economic situation.
The parliamentarians are given 15 minutes each to speak during the debate on the proposed state budget. The Secretariat of the Parliament aims to conclude the debates for the proposed budget by November 10.
Furthermore, Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer will be given 45 minutes to respond to the statements made by the parliamentarians during the debate. Parliamentarian Mohamed Nashiz has been elected as Chair of the Parliamentary Budget Committee to review the proposed state budget for 2022. The budget committee is scheduled to present its report on December 18.
The government has submitted a USD 2.4 billion state budget to the Parliament of the Maldives that includes projects and programmes to fulfil over 90% of government pledges. The Parliament has scheduled to begin the debates on the committee report on December 22 and pass the proposed state budget before the end of December.