The Parliament of the Maldives has completed deliberations on the proposed state budget for 2022.
The budget deliberations were completed on November 15, following participation from 70 of the 87 sitting parliamentarians. A total of 16 hours and 12 minutes were spent on the budget deliberations, which began on November 8.
Most parliamentarians who deliberated on the budget noted the proposed budget for 2022 includes several important projects and programmes for post-COVID economic recovery, as well as solutions for long-standing issues faced by the public. Some of the opposition parliamentarians expressed concern over the high debt included in the budget, while some also raised issues with the lack of planned expenditure on certain constituencies.
The budget will be reviewed further by the budget committee of the parliament, who are conducting meetings with the relevant authorities and institutions. As such, the budget committee has already conducted discussions with 17 independent institutions, as well as Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) and the Auditor General’s Office.
Following the conclusion of budget deliberations on the parliament floor, Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla said the budget report is expected to be presented by the budget committee next week. Further deliberations will be carried out on the report, with every parliamentarian given 7 minutes to deliberate on the report.
The government has submitted a USD 2.4 billion state budget to the parliament, that includes projects and programmes to fulfill over 90% of government pledges.